Black Dragon, Snowy Moon Installments
by TwilightsGuardian
Summary: These are little installments that help fill in the time gap between chapter forty four and forty five of the main Black Dragon, Snowy Moon story line.
1. 1 Support

Hello everyone! Hope everyone had wonderful New Year's celebrations! Anyway, I'm back with more Darker Than Black bits. These are little installments I'll be doing to fill in the time gap between chapters forty four and forty five of the main _Black Dragon, Snowy Moon_ story. They'll be mostly focused on Mitsuki as she awaits for Hei's return. This first chapter, however, is set after the end of chapter forty three but before chapter forty four. Anyway, enough of my chit-chat. Enjoy the first chapter!

_**Black Dragon, Snowy Moon  
**__Installment #01: Support_

_Bzzt. Bzzt. Bzzt._

Rolling over, Mitsuki reached up and grabbed her phone that was buzzing on the nightstand and flipped it up. "Hello?"

"Mitsuki? Did I wake you?" It was Kaitou and he must have heard the sleepiness in her voice. "I'm sorry if I did. Are you home right now?"

"Yeah I am. And no, it's not a problem with waking me." She sat up and gave a sleepy yawn looking out the window where the curtains were parted just slightly to show the late afternoon sky heading to evening. She hadn't realised she'd slept that long but after the morning through early afternoon she'd had helped Kirihara, who could blame her for being exhausted.

"Can I come over?"

Mitsuki could hear the worry in his voice. Part of her wanted to be alone but part of her wanted company too.

"Yeah. I don't mind."

"Alright. I'll see you in a few then."

Getting up, she gave a sigh before going down and getting some hot tea started. By time it finished heating up, the buzzer at her door sounded. She turned off the burner before sliding on her shoes and headed downstairs to let Kaitou in and back upstairs.

"W-what's all this?" He gave a blink at seeing the weapons harness, her thigh knife holster, her belt, and mask sitting on the coffee table where she'd left them upon getting home earlier with the note Hei had left.

"I..." She pulled her lips into a thin line as she held the tray with tea on it before setting it down after moving the stuff over a bit to make room. "It's mine." He gave a puzzled look. "Li gave it to me."

"Li did?" He gave a blink then glanced around. "Is he here?"

"He...he left."

"Left? What do you mean?" He furrowed his brow. "He didn't hurt you did he?"

Mitsuki gave a shake of her head with a small sigh before pouring the tea and handed him a cup. She sat down on the couch. He also sat down facing her with a puzzled look on his face.

"He left in order to protect me." She looked down at the steaming liquid in her cup. "The chaos going on in the city...and at the Gate...are because the organisation he's been working for wanted to destroy the Gate and eradicate all the Dolls and Contractors off the face of the earth."

"Wait...what?" Kaitou gave a surprised blink at her as she lifted her gaze up to his. "I heard there was fighting breaking out all over the city and people claiming others using strange powers. Are those Contractors that were fighting?"

"Yes. They were part of EPR, an organisation of Contractors who wanted to stop the organisation that Li worked for from destroying the Gates."

"Wait...so then he wanted to destroy the Gates?"

She gave a shake of her head. "No. He didn't know about them planning it. But he did stop them from destroying it with his power."

"His power?" Kaitou gave a blink. "He's also a Contractor?"

"Yes and no. He, like me, has powers but they were transferred to him just like Yue did with me by fusing with me. Except, in this case, it was his younger sister. She had the same powers that Yue had, though her obeisance was to sleep instead of feeling human emotions. He didn't know about the whole fusing part either until he met up with the leader of EPR in the Gate." She gave a sigh as she looked to the note on the coffee table. "He told me he found out and obviously stopped her from having him do the same thing that his sister did to Heaven's Gate."

"Wait...his sister caused the disaster at Heaven's Gate?"

"Yeah. Amber...the leader...she came to me after I revealed my powers to Li while I was off work with my injured leg. She told me everything about Li's sister doing what she did in South America and fusing with him. And she also told me about Yue fusing with me." She pulled her lips into a thin line before taking a sip of her tea. "She's the one that gave Yue the meteor core six months before the wreck and told him what was going to happen on that day because I guess her power was to see through time or something."

"I see. So he knew about the wreck the entire time before it happened." He looked down at his tea.

"She told me that he and I could have avoided the wreck that day but then I'd end up dying at a later date. He would have lost it and most likely would have run into Hei later on and joined the Syndicate but ultimately would end up dying with him before stopping the Syndicate from destroying the Gate."

"Hei?"

"Yeah. That's the name he's gone by since joining the Syndicate; the organisation that wanted to destroy the Gate. Li Shengshun was just his alias he was given while here in Tokyo." She gave a soft sigh.

"Will you tell me everything? Starting at the beginning then?"

Looking up into his hazel brown gaze, Mitsuki gave a blink seeing he wanted to know. She'd already told him a bit so she might as well explain it all. Nodding, she took in a deep breath and let it out slowly as she tried to figure where to start.

"I met Hei one night a week before I twisted my ankle while taking a walk at night," she started. "Except I met him not as Li, but as the Black Reaper." Kaitou gave a furrow of his brow. "It's the nickname he was given by his organisation and other Contractors for how many Contractors he's killed."

"Killed?" He gave a surprised blink at the information. She nodded.

"Yes. He's...an assassin for the Syndicate. Has been since he was about twelve, almost thirteen. He and his sister lived in China, though I don't know where, and had normal lives until the Gates appeared. It was shortly after this, his sister, nine at the time, became a Contractor and ended up killing their parents. I'm sure Yue told you how some Contractors have hard times when younger controlling their powers?"

"Yes. He did explain the younger ones had a hard time because they're still growing and learning right from wrong that adults tend to get the concepts of better." He paused for a second. "So he lost his parents similarly to you but instead of using her powers to protect him, she was the cause of their parents dying?" She nodded. "That's pretty harsh."

"It is. He told me he came home and saw his mother holding his father already dead and that his mother called his sister a monster before she killed her too. But before she turned on him, she fell asleep because of her obeisance. He said he did freak out because he didn't know what to do but when she woke, he managed to convince her to let him live because she needed someone to watch over her while she paid her price. She accepted and in his panicked state of not wanting to have anyone else get hurt or the authorities take her away, grabbed what he could and took off with her. It was a hard choice but he'd vowed to protect his sister since she was born. I mean, I don't blame him for wanting to protect her. I'd probably have done the same with Yue.

"Anyway, he managed to find a place for a little while, hoping maybe she'd return to normal but then the Syndicate found them. He was given a choice to either have his memories erased of his sister and what she'd done with M.E. and sent back to his family, become a mercenary and protect her, or be killed on the spot because they wanted her for being a Contractor. He chose to become a mercenary to protect her because just leaving her by herself was being a coward in his eyes. After all, she was still his little sister. So the Syndicate trained them both and sent them to South America in the conflicting war going on there. Mind you, he took down all these Contractors there without any powers." She gave a slightly grim look. "He hated killing. He hated it all. But if it meant staying by his sister's side protecting her, he had to do it. He said he earned his nickname by the time he was fifteen and when Heaven's Gate happened, he was seventeen."

"So he saw it? Saw the Gate disappear?"

"Yes. He had been given a solo mission to take care of a rogue Contractor so had left his sister in the care of Amber, who was on his team at the time, since his sister was in the middle of making her payment. All he said was while on the way back to them, a bright blue flash of light showed in the distance. But before he could figure out what it was or get back to his sister, he went unconscious and woke up in a field hospital a few days later. Upon hearing the news of his sister and Amber's disappearance, he was quite upset and it sort of triggered his powers to become a Contractor. At least, that was what he always believed, since now we know it's been our siblings that gave us that power with fusing with us.

"But after that, the Syndicate sent him to wherever for his missions until he finally was posted here in Tokyo. And that's when we met that night with him after a target." She gave a pause remembering that night. "The other Contractor came out from an alleyway up ahead like he was being chased before he saw me and thought he'd use me as a hostage. I was going to use my power to zap him unconscious and call the police but then Hei showed up in his Black Reaper outfit and gear." She nodded towards the mask. "His mask to hide his face is similar to mine but the lightning bolt is on the other side. He made mine a mirrored version of his on purpose."

"He wore a mask like this?" He reached out and picked up the mask after setting his tea aside, noticing it was porcelain.

"Yes. It was to conceal his identity. He's been trained to blend in with each of his aliases given to him. Basically covert ops."

"So you didn't know who he was that night?"

"Well I had overheard on an officer's radio before about a man in black with a mask being in the city that the cops were constantly after but that his targets always seemed to be Contractors, not regular civilians. I'd heard the Black Reaper name and his Messier code and realised that the man before me had to be him. The man holding me hostage must obviously be another Contractor. Thinking rationally, I decided to play up the part that I was just a normal human instead of using my powers to zap the Contractor. Instead, I jabbed him in the ribs with my elbow and stomped on his foot to let me go and rolled out of the way. Hei threw his wire and carabineer at the Contractor and I noticed the blue flicker of electricity before he zapped the Contractor dead. It reminded me of what I'd read about Yue's powers being and of my own. When I think about it now, I don't know why I'd have wanted to tell him thank you other than had I not had my powers, he'd have been the only person that could have saved me that night. But I told him to wait as he turned to leave and approached him. Before I could thank him, he kind of grabbed my arm and pulled me closer before using his power to zap me. I countered with my power without him noticing and directed the electricity down my spine to temporarily paralyse me while leaving me conscious and closed my eyes, pretending to be knocked out."

Kaitou gave a bewildered blink. "What did he do then?"

"The strangest thing that I'd have thought he could do as a Contractor. Before getting to know him of course." She gave a small chuckle. "He picked me up in his arms and ran to some alleyway after one of his teammates showed up asking if he'd zapped me dead too. But all he'd said was he couldn't have me remembering him, so obviously he'd intended on just zapping my memories much like Yue had that night. I learned his name of Hei from his teammate talking to him then and that his teammate was named Mao."

"Mao? So his teammate was Chinese too?"

"No. That's the interesting part." She gave a chuckle again. "He's actually a cat."

"A cat?"

"Mao told me his original body was blown up in an accident while he was using his power to body jump into a cat. His powers allow him to take over an animal's body and with data packs that he downloads from servers the Syndicate has up, it allows him to keep in control, as well as, talk like any regular person. It's complicated with how he described it. But also, because he lost his original body, his price was paid in full so he also doesn't have an obeisance like Hei and I."

"A talking cat huh?" He gave a small chuckle. "I guess that can't be the weirdest thing that's happened in this world since the Gates appeared. What did Hei do afterwards?"

"Well, he looked at my ID in my wallet and found where I lived and took me home after stashing his gear away so no one would know it was him while carrying me." He gave a surprised look as he set the mask back on the coffee table and picked up his tea to sip. "He put me in bed and left. I never got a look at him since I kept my eyes closed the entire time but I was grateful for saving me and the least I could do was not say anything about that night."

"So how did you two end up together?"

"The day I twisted my ankle, I actually tripped stepping into a dip in the sidewalk because I wasn't paying attention," she admitted. "He actually caught me in his arms but hadn't planned running into me like that again. Since I was too far to walk back home and his place was closer, he offered to have me come back to his place and get some ice on my ankle. I figured he was just a good Samaritan and took up his offer, knowing if he tried any funny business, I could always zap him and leave, regardless of my ankle hurting. Though I would probably have called you if anything too.

"While he was carrying me on his back, I noticed similar things I noticed the night he carried me home after meeting him as the Black Reaper. But because I couldn't be one hundred percent sure, I didn't say anything. Plus, given he was taking me back to his apartment, I didn't want to chance upsetting him by calling him out on who he was. After all, I was injured and if he was the Black Reaper, his skills were far beyond mine. We may have the same powers but even I wouldn't be able to defend myself with physical attacks he could land if I wasn't in contact or had a conductor for my power to be used through.

"When we got to his apartment, he had me sit and went to get some ice and aspirin from his landlady. I apologised for ruining any plans he might have had but he had none. It was then my stomach decided to signal I was hungry. I was a bit embarrassed but his did the same so he made some food for us both while letting the ice sit on my foot. I had to give a chuckle at the amount of food he made since it reminded me of how much Yue and I could eat."

"Yeah it did surprise us all when he was working your shifts that he ate quite a bit," Kaitou chuckled. "It did remind me of Yue." He gave a smile and sipped more of his tea before nodding for her to continue.

"I decided to strike up some conversation just to be polite and told him a little about Yue and I and about our parents passing shortly after the Gates appeared," she continued. "And how we went to live in China with our maternal grandparents. I think he was a little surprised to know I was half Chinese. Then I told him about the train wreck and how Yue went missing. But I left everything about him being a Contractor and all out of it so it made it seem like I was just a normal human.

"I asked him if he had any siblings and he seemed a little quiet when he answered he had a younger sister. He said she went missing five years ago after seeing a bright blue light, which got me to thinking that the only other thing in the news that mentioned a bright blue light besides the train wreck had been in South America. I didn't say anything about it then but I did ask about his parents, which was when he told me he also lost them shortly after the Gates appeared. I could tell he was sad about it and apologised for bringing up sad memories but he said it was alright. We ate and afterwards he helped wrap my ankle securely. But when I went to call for a taxi, my phone was dead. He didn't have a phone and it was getting late enough that his landlady was probably heading to bed so using her phone was out. I mean, I could have easily used my power to recharge it but not with him there watching.

"He actually offered to have me stay the night and take me home the next day." Kaitou raised an eyebrow at her. "But he was very cordial about it. He snuck next door to the empty apartment and got the futon, blankets, and pillow from there to use while giving me his to sleep on." She turned a little red in embarrassment. "And let me borrow a shirt of his to sleep in. The next day he used his landlady's phone to call for a taxi and rode with me back here and helped me inside. I thanked him again for his help and gave him my number just to be polite and said I could make him something to eat some time as a thank you but inwardly, I knew if he was this Black Reaper, he probably wouldn't contact me. The less that knew about his alias, the better. At least in the books I read it always seemed that way."

"He didn't contact you?"

"No. He never did." She gave a pause as he gave a confused look and was sure he still was wondering how they ended up together. "About two weeks after the ankle incident when it was raining, I couldn't sleep and went to look out my slider door. I noticed a shadow down on the road below before recognising the mask he wore. He stumbled and fell to the ground and didn't move for a moment so I knew something was wrong. I ran outside, found him unconscious, and brought him in where I found he was wounded so I bandaged him up and put him in bed. But he also got a fever and the cold cloth on his head wasn't helping as much so I laid next to him to bring his fever down. I guess I fell asleep and in the morning when I woke up, he was awake and looking at me."

"Was he upset?"

"No. He was actually pretty surprised and I told him the truth that I knew who he was because that night he thought he zapped my memories, I only went unconscious. However, I didn't tell him that I had redirected his electricity and sort of made it out to be some sort of fluke that left me temporarily paralysed instead. I didn't want him to judge me whether I was a Contractor or a human. I just wanted to be me. And I also explained Yue, filling in the details that he'd been a Contractor the entire time but I never knew until the wreck and his powers.

"But I also knew the seriousness of the situation that his alias was compromised. I mean, reading enough mystery novels, there had to be some truth to what's written. Using the fact that Contractors think rationally, I proposed a deal that if he let me live, I'll help him out in whatever ways I could. Even something as small as just resting, laying low, or something to eat. I think it surprised him that I'd actually help him out when he was some wanted criminal but I told him that like Yue, I wanted to help out those in need, no matter who they might be. After all, everyone has a story behind what they've done."

"And he took the deal."

"Yes. I made him something to eat and told him to rest on the couch for as long as he liked, which ended up being almost the entire afternoon. But as hurt as he was, he deserved to rest. I guess I fell asleep while reading and when I woke up, he was making something to eat for us. I loaned him some of Yue's clothes I had kept stored in a box since he's about his size then helped carry all his gear in one of my larger bags back to his place."

"You didn't take a taxi?"

"No. He didn't want to take one. But at least I was able to help him carry his stuff. When we got to his apartment, I set his stuff down. Mao came darting through the window he'd opened and realised I knew the truth. I told Mao the deal we'd proposed: that if I said anything to compromise Hei in any way, I wouldn't stop him from doing what needed to be done to keep himself and his team safe. Mao was a bit reluctant about me knowing but left it at that. I made some food so he didn't have to be on his leg that had been hurt any more than needed. But because it was already turning dark out, he told Mao to walk me home. It was a little surprising but I guess even he was grateful for my help and wanted to make sure I got home safe. I told Mao what I told Hei about Yue and I, leaving out I was a Contractor, and thanked him for walking me home." She gave a chuckle. "Of course, he did tell me if I betrayed Hei, he'd jump into a tiger from the zoo and maul me. But I knew he was just trying to give me a firm warning since an outsider like me knowing is a big deal."

"And he started coming around then?"

"Not for a couple of weeks. I left out some onigiri on the table at night and my slider door unlocked in case he had some mission or whatever but I always found it untouched in the morning. But then one morning, I woke up and it was gone and he'd written a thank you on the note I'd left saying I left it for him to eat. He came back the next night after I left some more. I woke up and went to get a drink of water and noticed him sleeping on the couch and put a blanket over him before going back to bed. He was gone when I woke up after the sun rose.

"Next time I saw him shortly thereafter, he was waiting for me to get off work. He walked with me to get something to eat, we talked a little, then walked me home. Before he left, he told me about a job he was doing that wouldn't allow him to come around for a month since security would be tight. I gave him the little moonstone charm Yue gave me a long time ago for good luck. He was a bit surprised by it. I just told him to bring it back when he returned."

"And did he give it back?"

"Yeah. He came over after his job was done but I could tell something was off."

Kaitou raised an eyebrow.

"He seemed really tired and pale, like he hadn't been getting enough sleep. He tried to play it off by asking about the pictures of Yue and I and with our grandparents on the bookshelf since my hair didn't have the white in it then." She paused and looked towards the pictures for a moment then turned her gaze back at Kaitou. "I told him that it had turned that way after the wreck and that I thought of it as a last little gift from Yue along with the snowflake scar. He seemed quiet as he looked back at the pictures and I could just tell something was bothering him. So I just kind of reacted and pulled him into a hug to show him that whatever it was, he didn't have to face it alone. I could tell it surprised him since he stiffened up but I think he realised that he didn't have to hide anything from me. He could show what he was feeling if he wished and I'd listen."

She gave another pause before softly smiling.

"I'm sure that hug was the first one he'd had in a long time that conveyed caring and he just started to silently cry. I held onto him and let him cry until he finally pulled back. He really did look a mess but I told him it was okay to cry. He looked embarrassed by it but I understood it was probably something he hadn't done in a long time.

"Deciding on helping him to relax, I had him lay his head on my lap and massaged his head and neck while humming like my mother used to do a little. He did relax a bit, which was good. But I told him it's not bad to cry once in awhile, regardless whether Contractors were supposed to feel with having human emotions or not. At the time, I didn't know what his obeisance was, or that he didn't have one, so I thought maybe he might be like Yue with feeling human emotions. It was the only logical explanation as to why he was in such a distressed state.

"Offering him to relax more, I told him to take a bath while I made some food. It seemed to help him more, though he was sort of quiet still. But when he went to leave, he seemed hesitant before asking if he could stay for the night. I understood that being alone in his current state probably wasn't the best either."

"Yeah. I remember how much of a mess you were after the accident and Yue or his body was nowhere to be found." Kaitou pulled his lips into a thin line.

"You were a bit of a mess too remember?" She gave him a soft smile.

"Yeah. I guess I was. But I guess we both needed each other to cope didn't we?" She nodded before taking a drink of her tea again.

"I fixed up the couch for Hei to sleep on and gave him some of Yue's lounge pants to use for the night before telling him goodnight and went to my room to get some sleep. But I guess I couldn't sleep right away and when I looked towards the doorway, he was there. I realised he couldn't sleep either and I let him come lay next to me. He reminded me of Yue when he was in a vulnerable state and needed someone to comfort him, to be honest. How could I not comfort him?

"The next morning, he made breakfast as a thank you for my being there for him. He even did the dishes when I said I had to get ready for work. Then he walked me to work and he even came in at some point to get something to eat since Minako noticed him and pointed him out because of his large order. While on break, she asked me about him, which I just said we were friends. But you know Minako." She gave a chuckle. "She immediately thought he was more than 'just a friend'."

"Yeah that does sound like her." Kaitou chuckled before drinking the rest of his tea down. Mitsuki refilled his cup, along with hers, before setting the teapot back down and held her cup in her hands.

"After work, Minako headed outside before me to wait and met Hei standing there before calling back in to me about him being there but using boyfriend." She chuckled. "I'm sure she told him her usual speech about not hurting my feelings and whatnot before I came out. She bid us both goodbye before Hei and I started walking back here. He told me Minako thought he was my boyfriend but he didn't seem upset about it. We also went to eat and talked a bit before he walked me home again. He said goodbye and left, neither of us saying anything about actually liking each other. I mean, I realised him being an assassin and being with his organisation, they'd never allow it. I figured it would be best I didn't say anything. After all, as far as I knew, he was a Contractor and those sorts of feelings Contractors usually didn't have. Unless of course in Yue's case."

"I can understand that I guess." Kaitou gave a nod for her to continue as he sipped his tea.

"I ended up stopping at his place a couple of days later to give him back his clothes he'd left that night he'd stayed, since I let him borrow Yue's clothes again. He said he had some others on his trail and said it would be best for me not to be seen around him because he didn't want me to get involved or hurt. I told him to be careful before leaving. I didn't see him for a couple of weeks after that but I knew he was still alive because his star was still shining in the sky. But since I didn't know if there were still others on his trail, I made sure to heed his words."

She gave a pause as she looked down at her tea in her hands before pulling her lips into a thin line.

"Is something wrong?" Kaitou asked concerned.

"Do...do you remember when Hei called in sick for me that time saying I had a fever?"

"Yeah. I was glad you had him watching out for you." Kaitou furrowed his brow. "You weren't really sick were you?" She shook her head as she gave her teacup a slight squeeze. "What really happened?"

"I..." The memories from that night flickered across her thoughts again. "I was attacked on the way home that night when I left late." She gave her cup another squeeze. "Three men...they...they were going to..." She trailed off unable to finish the words.

"They didn't..." Kaitou put his cup on the coffee table before scooting closer to her, took her cup from her hands, set it next to his, and pulled her into a hug. She wrapped her arms around him in return but didn't cry.

"They didn't get far to do anything," she replied after she pulled back from him. "But even with my powers, I panicked before I unleashed that power on them to knock them unconscious. Then I just ran before stopping in a park and just cried." She gave a small shake of her head. "I sensed a spectre nearby and it ended up being Yin's. She's Hei's surveillance Doll that was on his team. I'd met her before and she seemed to like me but even she didn't know about me being a Contractor. If I saw her spectre, I pretended not to notice. But that night, because I was so distressed, I looked right at her spectre and she knew my secret. I asked her not to tell Hei before her spectre disappeared. I guess she saw how upset I was and she sent her spectre to find Hei and lead him to me. He took me home, even though I could tell he wanted to go find those men and probably kill them for what they did. But he stayed with me to make sure I was okay. And called in for me because I still felt upset the next day about it all." She gave a pause as she looked up at him. "I'm sorry I lied about that. But...I just felt so embarrassed and ashamed about it."

"It's not your fault." He gave a shake of his head as he put a hand to her cheek. "And I'd never blame it being your fault." He gave a small pause. "I can understand Hei's feelings of wanting to go after them. I'd have wanted to do the same. No one hurts you and gets away with it. Remember, I promised Yue I'd watch over you if anything happened to him." He gave a soft smile. "But I am glad that Hei was there for you when you needed him. And for Yin getting him."

"I am too." She gave a soft smile glad to know Kaitou understood. He scooted back a little before handing her tea back to her, which she sipped on before continuing. "That day after work when I had come back, he was waiting to walk me home. Minako had gone outside first while I grabbed my stuff and had obviously told him I liked him. On the way home, he asked me about it, which I admitted I did like him but I understood as a Contractor he wouldn't have those sorts of feelings in return so I didn't expect to say anything. But he surprised me when he admitted he did like me as well. He was so confused why he had those feelings but that I made him feel more human because of it, which he found to be a nice feeling. We ended up coming back here and discussed over the fact we had to keep it quiet from the Syndicate and from his teammates. And I also asked him to train me to fight back so I wouldn't panic so bad in the future should someone attack me again."

"He did?" Kaitou glanced at the items on the coffee table. "Is that why he gave you all this?"

"Yeah. But most of it came after he found out about my having powers. Otherwise, he showed me mostly hand to hand combat and how to throw the knives. He got me my own set just so he felt better knowing I was protected by those at least. Just as long as I didn't go after any Contractors."

"So he trained you on your days off I'm guessing?"

"Yeah. Mostly then and any earlier shifts I had," she nodded. "As long as I wasn't too tired out, we went to train for a couple of hours. I sort of remembered some of the core training Yue and I learned with our teacher back in China and I sort of picked up on everything quicker. He told me he was a little surprised about it but that it was a good thing since it made it easier to train me." She gave a small pause. "He also started staying over at night. Said it was quieter than at his apartment since his neighbours tended to get loud and rowdy when having their drinking parties." She gave a small laugh at his annoyance he'd expressed about it. "But also, he slept better. He told me once about having nightmares all the time about the targets he'd killed over the years. But somehow, sleeping beside me, he felt safe and protected. Like I was the one with all the power to protect him while he was the human that was vulnerable and weak." She gave a smile. "I mean, I could definitely protect him, even if he didn't know I had my powers at the time."

"When did he find out about you having your powers?" He realised that Hei obviously knew about them now but he was curious about what had happened.

"It wasn't long after that time I called in when he'd gotten hurt at work and I needed to help him out," she replied. "I wasn't lying when he got hurt while doing work but...it wasn't at one of his mundane jobs he held outside of doing the ones for the Syndicate." Kaitou raised an eyebrow in curiosity. "His human teammate, Huang, sort of shot at him to keep him from going to see Amber when she came back into town. He sort of wasn't listening to Huang about it and told me he was pissed off that he'd tried to stop him from meeting with her so he could get answers about where his sister was and what happened back in South America. He did need my help as he rested so he could heal. But the night that he found out about my powers...it was sort of unexpected."

Kaitou raised an eyebrow again. "How so?"

"I didn't expect to have him find out the way it happened but there was really no other way in that situation," she continued. "We were out walking in the evening and Chief Kirihara of Section Four of the Public Security Bureau came upon us. I'd met her briefly once before while she and Hei had crossed paths a few other times before, but only as his alias. She had no idea about him being the Contractor she was after as BK-201, the Black Reaper. I offered to have her walk with us, since being a police chief, she probably dealt with a lot of stress from her work. And walks did tend to help de-stress me. Hei agreed about that too.

"While we were walking, Hei noticed a Contractor just before he attacked us. Kirihara had forgotten her gun in her car so we all turned to run because he couldn't freely use his powers to stop the Contractor. If he did, he'd have given himself away to Kirihara. Sure he could have probably erased her memory of the event, but after him thinking of me not having lost my memory that first night we met being a fluke, he didn't want to chance having it not working on Kirihara either. As we ran, the Contractor had managed to nail me with one of the knife-like projectiles that he created into my leg."

"So that's what happened to give you that injury." He sipped his tea.

"Sorry we had to make something up about it but I didn't want you to worry." She gave a slightly guilty look knowing she had to lie about how she'd obtained the injury.

"I understand. After all, you didn't know at the time that I'd known about Contractors from Yue the entire time." He gave her a soft smile before nodding for her to continue.

"Kirihara told Hei to help me get out of there while she distracted the Contractor. We ended up in a factory that was closed for the night and he had me hide inside while he went to get Kirihara. When he returned with her, he helped me get to my feet and we tried to get out of there because the Contractor had followed them back to the building and it wasn't safe to stay inside.

"While we were crossing an open area of the floor, the Contractor had turned on some of the lights and began attacking us again. Hei got grazed in the upper arm keeping me from being hit by the projectiles being created. Kirihara also kept him from being hit again. I got so angry seeing how flustered Hei was with being unable to freely use his powers to defend us all. And with him getting hurt because of it, I sort of took matters into my own hands.

"Distracting the Contractor towards me, I used the training Hei had given me to dodge his attacks while analysing my surroundings like Hei also taught me. Use anything and everything, even something as simple as sand, to help take down your target. I managed to get the Contractor to hit a water pipe with one of his knife-like projectiles and cause a bit of water to leak onto the floor." She gave a pause as she squeezed her cup again while looking down at the warm liquid inside. "Because I was so angry, I sort of let my powers overwhelm me and instead of shocking him unconscious I..." She gave a small sigh as she lowered her voice a little. "...I killed the Contractor instead."

Kaitou gave a blink in surprise as she pulled her lips into a thin line.

"As soon as I realised what I'd done by killing him instead of just knocking him unconscious, I panicked. Both of them were stunned but Hei quickly came to my side as I sat there panicking and crying about it. He figured that that must be my obeisance like Yue's: to feel human emotions. But he also couldn't act out of character for his alias in front of Kirihara. He comforted me as his alias would but I could tell he was on high alert as Kirihara checked over the body before asking me questions since she realised of me being a Contractor too."

"So she also knows about Contractors?"

"Yeah. Section Four and her team are the ones that handle calls about Contractors and try to keep them from the public," she replied with a nod as she finally raised her head to look back up at him. "She also thought the same thing about my panicking being that of feeling human emotions as my price. I didn't say anything about it not being so and let her think that was my price because a Contractor not having an obeisance was unheard of. I'd found out about Hei not having a price either earlier on, which surprised me that we both didn't have one, but I thought we both might be strangely odd Contractors with a small fluke somehow.

"Because Hei's alias wasn't supposed to have known about Contractors, Kirihara had to explain in short about Contractors and powers to him. He played up the part of being surprised by it but didn't let his alias be appalled either and that he decided to play the comforting boyfriend and not caring about what I was. But before Kirihara could call in to her team and backup to clean up what had happened, I made her a deal. It mostly came off the top of my head but I knew I couldn't let Hei's alias be compromised in any way either. And with his alias knowing about Contractors, I didn't want Kirihara to have his memories erased with M.E. either.

"The deal I made her was that I'd help her out with any Contractor she might need to be taken down in exchange she also didn't tell anyone about me being a Contractor. After all, I didn't want to be taken away from everyone. She was quite surprised by me making the deal. But I also made sure to add in that the one Contractor I wouldn't go after was BK-201, the Black Reaper, because I'd heard about him and how skilled he was, just like many other Contractors knew of his reputation. I also wanted to make sure that Hei understood I still had his back just as I promised with our initial deal that morning after I'd brought him inside and bandaged him up, saving his life."

"She accepted the deal then huh?"

"Yeah. Only because on a rational level, she understood that even if we had the same powers, his skills were greater than my own, which I had pointed out to her," she replied. "I wasn't stupid enough to get myself killed like that. I also made it seem that I erased Hei's memories of what had happened but in reality, I'd just redirected my zap to him down his spine and temporarily paralysed him like I'd done that first night we'd met, leaving him conscious. I'd told him to play along so he shut his eyes and pretended to be unconscious. While waiting for backup to arrive, I gave a scenario that would be workable for Kirihara to use: that we were attacked, we ran into the factory, Hei got knocked unconscious, and the two of us tried to fight the Contractor off before he ended up stepping into the puddle of water where a metal pole had been sitting in with a live wire across it. I'd actually told her to drag the pole into the water then drop the wire onto the pole and switch the power on while staying out of way. Then used my power to overload it and fry the power box it was connected to to make it believable."

"And what about Hei? Didn't she want to know why you erased his memories?"

"Yeah. She was curious about it. I was truthful in the part of telling her I didn't want him to think of me as a monster." She paused thinking about Yue's words he'd written her in his letter. "I wanted him to see me for _who_ I was, not _what_ I was. He fell in love with me thinking I was human and I wanted him to remain innocent about that. At least that's what I told her. And it was true. I didn't want him to judge me based on being a human or Contractor. I just wanted to be me. So I told her I erased his memories of what happened, just like Yue did to me that night."

"She bought it that easily?"

"Well, it was in part that Hei had listened to the whole conversation and my confession that I did truly care about him. It wasn't rational or logical for me to have those feelings, but I knew what I felt and that's all that mattered to me. He was able to play up the part not knowing what exactly happened when the temporary paralysis left him and backup had arrived. Kirihara released us to go home and get our statements the next day since she knew how tired we sort of were from the ordeal.  
"On the way back here, Hei did take me to one of his safe houses and confronted me about my keeping of being a Contractor a secret. He was pretty upset about it. I told him the truth: that I never actually lied about it. He assumed I was human because I was just myself around him, letting all my emotions show and everything. I told him if he really wanted to finish the job he should have done the first morning waking up and seeing me there knowing his identity, then fine. But before he made up his mind, I told him I didn't have an obeisance just like him. And I told him what I told Kirihara about my feelings towards him wasn't a lie. I really did love him and that hell hath no fury should someone hurt or kill him. But if he decided to walk away on his own...well I might as well just stop breathing because he had my heart. I protected him because I knew the risks of using his powers with Kirihara there and I didn't want to see him be arrested or have to go on the run from the city.

"He realised I wasn't lying because I'd already told him I chose not to lie about anything if I could help it. And he also realised that he felt the same way about me. We promised not to keep secrets from each other anymore. Once we returned back here, I told him everything: about the day I got my powers and became a Contractor and how I just try to live my life as normal as possible. I told him about that night when those men attacked me and that Yin knew from that night that I was a Contractor too and kept my secret because I asked. He also helped console me because after the adrenaline had finally left me, I realised that I'd killed that Contractor to protect him and Kirihara just like Yue had done to protect me..."

Kaitou put his cup down again and took hers before pulling her into another hug. She held onto him as he gently rubbed her back. He understood she now carried that same burden on her shoulders that Yue carried on his. There had been plenty of times he'd consoled Yue when he was emotional about everything, much like Mitsuki had consoled him.

"I'm here if you need me," he spoke softly as she pulled back from his embrace after a few moments. "Just like I had with Yue."

"Thank you." She gave a nod before giving a small sigh and gathered her thoughts. "Hei began training me how to utilise my powers once my leg was healed. And he got the same gear he used fitted to me so I could learn everything I could to fight. But the one thing he taught me was to incapacitate and stun a target instead of killing. He didn't want me to have more blood on my hands than I already did with that one Contractor. We even tested out how to cancel out each other's powers on various levels." She paused looking at the knives, mask, and belt sitting on the coffee table still. "He just wanted to make sure that should anything happen, I'd be able to defend myself to the fullest. Especially if it came to other Contractors in case the Syndicate did find out about me. He still told me I should run away and hide before fighting if at all possible, but if I couldn't do that, that I make sure to take them down quickly. That's what I was doing earlier this morning and afternoon with Kirihara. I woke up hearing the fighting breaking out and knew that today was the day that all this would happen."

"You did?" Kaitou gave a confused blink.

She nodded. "Right after the attack happened and the first day Hei was working my shift for me, Kirihara came to take me up to her friend at the Astronomics observatory. She'd asked her friend to look up my Messier code the night of the attack to pinpoint which star was mine. Turned out, it was the same one that Yue had. And with the data that her friend pulled up showed data before the time I had mentioned I had become a Contractor after the accident. So naturally she was curious as to how I had star data before gaining it. It was while there, I learned that Yue's star had become my own, since I knew his code. And it was also when I learned that Hei's star, BK-201 had data from before he became a Contractor after Heaven's Gate disappeared. Without telling Kirihara and her friend, I finally pieced together that our siblings must have done something to us to give us their stars and powers. Though Kirihara's friend did sort of figure it out, she was sort of confused about it and figured she'd look into it further but keeping it quiet for the time being.

"On the way back, Kirihara dropped me off near here since she had a call to go to. I didn't mind walking a few blocks. I just figured I'd take it slow. But that's when I ran into Amber. She pretended to be looking for a friend and we went to the shrine where Yue's stone is. That's when she revealed herself and the information about Yue fusing with me and that the hair and eyes changing were a slight side effect from that fusion. She told me the story about how she'd met him before the accident and gave him the meteor core too. And she told me about Hei and how his sister fused with him as well. But because their hair and eye colours were the same, it wasn't noticeable. I wanted to go tell him about it all but she warned me if I did, he'd die. And then the Syndicate would wipe out the Gate and all Contractors and Dolls."

She gave a pause thinking over the conversation she'd had with Amber back then.

"Though she didn't say it, I'm sure she'd have come to me to ask to do the same with the Gate as what happened to Heaven's Gate had Hei been killed by the Syndicate before the Solar Maximum came. I don't know what I would have done. I can't fathom just using my power to seal the Gate and erase Japan off the face of the earth like what happened in South America. But given the state I'd probably be in with feeling grief at losing Hei...who knows. But she did say had the Syndicate been successful in eradicating the Gate, Hei would have lost his powers and had to go on the run anyway. They'd try to lure him out by using me as a hostage, promising with his surrender that they'd set me free. But they'd lie and kill me in front of him anyway and that would shatter his will to live because I've become that person that lights up the darkness he's travelled through in his life for the past decade. To be honest, he's been something like that to me too. I couldn't imagine what my life would be without him. That's why, knowing he's gone right now is kind of hard on me."

"Is he gone for good then?" He nodded towards the letter he could see with the Chinese kanji Xue Yue on. He knew what those ones meant.

"No." She gave a shake of her head as she turned and picked up the paper but didn't open it. "He did tell me that he finally learned the truth about his sister though and that Amber told him about Yue as well. And about how I knew the truth and kept it to protect him. He thanked me for that. Currently he and Yin are on the run since the Syndicate cut his team loose before the events started anyway. Huang didn't make it and Mao is somewhere in the city hopefully. He'll be needing to be found since I did promise to protect him if something happened and he was unable to respond as he would normally. After all, with those data packs he mentioned, if he was cut from the servers, the animal mind would take over and he'd be stuck sort of in the back of the animal's mind, unable to function. So if I can find him, he'll be like a regular cat right now."

"Is there a way to restore him at all? I mean...however it's done?"

"I'm sure there is a way but I don't have the means to do it," she replied with a shake of her head. "I'd have to ask Kirihara about it and probably her friend. I'll figure something out either way." She paused and looked at the note. "Hei did say that he'll be back. But right now, it's just too dangerous and he doesn't want me to get hurt in the crossfire with the Contractors that are sure to come after him that the Syndicate will send." She gave a pause. "Though honestly, I'd have run with him if I could. If it meant helping to protect him and Yin, I would have." She gave another pause. "But he knew that I'd also miss you, Minako, Hisoka, and everyone at work. Or having a place to call home. It's something he's wanted all these years. That's why he wanted me to stay so he could find a way to come back, here with me again." She sighed before giving a soft, slightly sad smile. "Even if it takes awhile for him to return, I'll wait for him. That way I can tell him he's home where he belongs."

"You really are such a wonderful woman you know that?" Kaitou gave her a smile before taking her hands and held onto them after she set the note back on the coffee table. "And I want you to know you have my full support in whatever you need while he's away okay? You don't have to carry any burden alone. Just like I promised Yue before the wreck, you know you can always come to me."

"I know. And thank you." She gave him a smile.

"Why don't you take several days off work in the meantime alright? You've been through enough as it is today. I'll just add it as a paid vacation."

"But what about the others at work?"

"I'll inform them that some personal matters came up and you needed some time off. You know they understand when issues come up. We've got it covered."

"O-okay. I...I guess...it would be a bit helpful." She gave a small sigh. "I might have to help Kirihara a little anyway while the city is still kind of in a chaotic mess. It's why I didn't answer my phone earlier. Once the fighting started, I knew Hei was going to the Gate to where Amber was waiting. She told me that time we met and that I should stay out of the direct fighting. But I was also worried about Kirihara too. When I tried calling her, she didn't answer. So I called her friend and she told me she'd heard she was up at PANDORA and that Saitou and Kouno on Kirihara's team were somewhere in the city trying to get to PANDORA. I promised I would find them and help them get to her and make sure she was okay. On the way, I met up with April and July, another Contractor and Doll from Britain that had helped out Kirihara's team before. She helped me get to the two and with Matsumoto that came after we met up again, we made it to PANDORA where Kirihara had uncovered the Syndicate's plan and Hei had also helped take down one of the higher ups that happened to be her superior at the NPA. But Hei had also left before we had gotten there. I talked with her off to the side and she told me she figured out who Hei was the other day after a run in with him but didn't tell anyone else. She sort of realised why I'd kept his identity a secret and wasn't mad at me for it. But before I could explain anything else, she had to help quell some of the skirmishes still in the city. I offered to help with some of the Contractors, taking them down so they could take them into custody. It was the least I could do. I didn't want to chance breaking or frying my phone again so I left it here. I'm sorry if I worried you."

"It's alright. I understand. You did what you had to in order to help this city. I'm proud of you for that." He gave a smile then tilted his head slightly. "Does Minako and Hisoka know about your powers though?"

She shook her head. "No. I haven't told them at all. I...I'm afraid to, to be honest." She gave a small pause. "I just don't want them to reject me and see me as a monster like I did to Yue all those years ago. But...I also feel bad for keeping it from them too. I just...I don't know what to do."

"I understand it takes time." He nodded. "As I said, I'm here for any support you need. I won't say anything to them until you feel ready."

"Thank you. I appreciate it."

"You're welcome." He gave her a smile. "Yue would be proud of you right now in how much you've grown stronger."

"You think so?"

"I know so." He pointed to her heart. "You carry both of your hearts together."

Giving him a smile, she realised it was true before giving him a hug again. She was glad to have Kaitou there for her and that he supported her. Hei certainly would be glad to know she was in good hands until he returned.

* * *

Well that's the chapter. I know it's pretty much a recap of Mitsuki explaining a few things to Kirihara from chapter forty four in the main story but to Kaitou this time. But she definitely needed to know she had his support. *smiles*  
Anyway, I'll be getting more installments added in soon. I'm still working on them but have a few done. I just need to make sure they're in order before I go posting. So bear with me while I get those done. *smiles*  
Again, any reviews, comments, and critiques are wonderful! Thanks so much! *hands out pocky*


	2. 2 Inside the Gate

Hello everyone! I'm back again with another installment for you all! This one begins the ones that take place between chapters forty four and forty five in _Black Dragon, Snowy Moon._ Anyways, hope you enjoy!

_**Black Dragon, Snowy Moon  
**__Installment #02: Inside the Gate_

It had been a few days since the Tokyo Explosion's events had happened and Hei, along with Yin, had disappeared. Mitsuki stood looking out her slider door at the afternoon sky clear and sunny holding the picture of her, Hei, Yin, and Mao from his birthday party. She couldn't help but give a small sigh feeling saddened that he had to run but knew that he would return just as he said he would in his note. It was just the waiting part of when he'd be able to return that made her long for him to come back that got her feeling a little down.

Suddenly, her phone rang and she turned to look at it on the coffee table. She quickly went over and answered it.

"Hello?"

"Yuuki. It's Kirihara," came the policewoman's voice on the other end. "I was heading back up to PANDORA with my team and wanted to know if you wanted to come along?"

"Um..." She looked down at the picture still in her hands. It had been the closest she'd ever been to the Gate the other day, though she hadn't gotten a good look at what it was like inside the actual Gate itself. And she'd always been curious as to what it was like inside there. Hei had said it was eerie. "Sure."

"Alright. I'll be there in about ten minutes to pick you up."

"I'll be ready."

Hanging up, Mitsuki went to put the picture back in its place on the shelf she had it at. She put her phone in her pocket then grabbed her purse and keys before heading downstairs to wait. Several minutes later, the familiar blue Porsche pulled up. She got in the passenger's side before Kirihara turned back to the road and took off for PANDORA.

"How are you doing?" Kirihara asked as she made her way through traffic to the facility at the Gate's entrance. Brown eyes glanced towards the younger girl beside her.

"I...I miss him," Mitsuki replied quietly with a small sigh. "But I know he'll survive. He's fought all this time to remain alive in the Syndicate. Being one of their best, I know he'll take care of anything and anyone sent at him. I just wish I could help protect him and Yin as well."

"Would you have run with him had you had the chance?"

"Honestly, yes," Mitsuki nodded. "I know he wouldn't have wanted me to give up everything I had here though. But if it would have been the only way, I'd give up everything in a heartbeat just to stay at his side and protect him and Yin from anything that came at us." She gave a pause as she looked down at her hands in her lap. "Though, I really would miss here as well I suppose. And seeing Minako, Hisoka, Kaitou, and all my coworkers I have. Even you and Ishizaki and the rest of your team that I'm getting to know. But that's why Hei wouldn't have wanted me to leave with him. I have what he's wanted pretty much for half his life that he left behind the day his parents were killed."

"A place to call home," Kirihara spoke and Mitsuki looked up at her. "That night at the batting cages, I asked him what he thought about the city. He told me that even though at first he was just passing through, now he wanted to stay here. I knew it was because of you."

"It was because of you too," Mitsuki said with a small shake of her head though smiled softly as well. The older woman gave a blink at her. "Because you're someone he also cares for as a friend. And getting to know my friends also helped make that decision." She gave a small pause. "Plus, even having lunch with Saitou and Kouno once I'm sure added to that. Tokyo as a whole has become a place he's learned to love. I don't know what it was like growing up for him and where he lived at in China as a kid, but even I know that having those around you that you care for becomes like family and a home." She brought her hands up and placed them over her heart. "They say home is where the heart is. I believe that is certainly true."

"You're right." Kirihara gave her a smile. Home really was where the heart was. And she knew her heart belonged right here in the city she'd sworn to protect, along with everyone in it.

Arriving at PANDORA's gates and parking, Kirihara had Mitsuki stay close by her side. Saitou and Kouno had already gone inside and were waiting for her.

"Y-Yuuki, you're here as well?" Saitou asked as they came up.

"Hello again," she smiled. "Kirihara asked if I wanted to come."

"Chief..." Kouno sighed. Though he was glad to know she was there in case there was trouble.

"Um...I uh...never got to properly thank you for the other day," Saitou spoke up as he turned to the younger girl before giving a bow. "Thank you for helping to save my life. I'm in your debt."

"It was no trouble at all," Mitsuki smiled back. "It's what friends are for." This caught both Saitou and Kouno off guard a bit with the mention of her considering them friends. But they did give a small smile glad that she did care.

Standing off to the side while Kirihara asked some questions to some of the staff that was there, Mitsuki noticed what appeared to be a little girl no older than about three watching her from the corner of her eye. The girl looked familiar with her amber coloured eyes and long, blonde hair. She gave a mischievous grin. Could that possibly be Amber? It did look like an even younger version than Amber she'd met and walked to the shrine with that time.

"What are you looking at?"

Mitsuki turned her head to look at a woman around her age in appearance holding a few files in hand with long, dark brown hair in a braid pulled forward over her shoulder. Her skin was a lovely soft tanned colour with her dark brown eyes behind glasses and a Bindi on her forehead.

"Oh um...there's a girl," Mitsuki started to say as she turned to look where the girl had been but no one was there. "Or...was there..."

"You must be seeing the ghosts that pop up in our thoughts," the young woman said looking in the direction that Mitsuki had looked before returning her gaze back to the black and white haired girl. "Some people are more susceptible to seeing them than others. But it's alright. It's normal around here." She gave a small smile. "I'm guessing this is your first time here?"

"Um...sort of. I'm here with Kirihara," Mitsuki replied looking over towards the policewoman still asking questions with her team.

"Ah. Are you a part of her team?"

"Not exactly." Mitsuki shook her head. "Just tagging along since Kirihara invited me to come with her."

"What's your name may I ask?" She gave a smile. "I'm Kandaswamy. Kandaswamy Mina."

"I'm Yuuki. Yuuki Mitsuki." Mitsuki gave her a smile in return and a small bow. Her phone suddenly vibrated in her pocket and she pulled it out seeing she had a message from Minako. "Ah. Excuse me for a moment." She flipped her phone open, revealing the background picture of her and Hei having posed and soft smiles on their faces.

"I-is that...?" Mina gasped catching the picture and gave a blink.

Mitsuki gave a puzzled look before looking at Hei's picture then up at her again. "Do you know him?"

"T-that's..." Mina glanced back at Kirihara before looking back to her and lowered her voice. "BK-201. Hei. H-how d-do you know him?"

Mitsuki gave her a blink. She knew Hei and his Messier code? There was no doubt that meant she was part of the Syndicate then. But the question was, could she be trusted?

"Are you...part of the Syndicate?" she whispered back glancing towards Kirihara then back to Mina. The other woman gave a nod.

"Are you?" she asked.

"No." Mina gave a confused blink. "But do you know about the events that happened a few days ago and why they happened?" Mina shook her head. "You didn't know that the Syndicate planned on destroying the Gate this entire time?"

"What?" Mina gave a surprised gasp at her. "T-they were?" She furrowed her brow and looked down somewhat ashamed. "I had no idea. I've only been researching about why the Gates appeared and figuring out more about them."

"Neither did Hei until that day," Mitsuki replied quietly looking at the picture on her phone. "He was the one that stopped them from destroying the Gate and having all the Contractors and Dolls disappear."

Mina gave a look of disbelief at her. "You mean, he's the one that did all this the other day?" Mitsuki nodded. The other woman continued to give her surprised look then glanced back to Kirihara. "Does...does she know about who Hei is?"

"She does. But the others do not." Mitsuki pulled her lips into a thin line giving her a somewhat serious look. "Please do not say anything to them. They only know him as my boyfriend, Li."

"B-boyfriend?" Mina gaped at the black and white haired girl before her. She didn't think that a Contractor like Hei would ever have such feelings with the way he acted towards her during his mission retrieving the meteor shard. So cold and distant just like any other Contractor acted like. But then again, Nick had always acted so friendly towards everyone and towards Hei. She could tell Hei seemed to get along with Nick really well until he was revealed to be a Contractor. "B-but Contractors..."

"Aren't supposed to have those sorts of feelings?" Mitsuki finished for her then gave a small smile. "We're rational, yes, but even we can't deny that some things and feelings we have are clearly irrational."

"W-wait. Are you saying that you're a Contractor?"

"Well I have the same powers as Hei so..." Mitsuki replied trailing off slightly. It was the closest she could get without outright telling Mina neither she or Hei were true Contractors. It was best to keep that fact to a limited few. "And yes, Kirihara and her team are aware of me being one. Though, as I said, Kirihara is the only one that knows about my connection to Hei and knowing who he really is." She gave a small pause as she studied the researcher before her. "However, Hei's on the run now and he's bound determined to take down the Syndicate with him as he goes. After all, they already let him and his team go just before the events at the Gate happened. They obviously realised his power was the same power that took out Heaven's Gate in South America."

"He was the one that did that to the other Gate?"

"No. That was his sister that did that." Mitsuki gave a small shake of her head then levelled her gaze on the other young woman. "Again, no one knows about it but Kirihara and myself." She flicked her gaze towards the policewoman then back. "And since I'm with Hei on helping to take down the Syndicate along with Kirihara, that means that I should turn you in as you are part of them." Mina stiffened in reaction. "However, I'll cut you a deal since you don't seem to have known a whole lot about their plans. You help me find out who might also be part of the Syndicate and I'll keep you being part of it quiet. If I must speak of it to anyone, it'll only be to Kirihara. She's trustworthy to know certain things and not take action if it means the good for everyone as a whole." She held up her hand. "Do we have a deal?"

Mina gave a blink at her hand before looking over to the others then back to Mitsuki. She extended her hand and shook hers while nodding. "Deal."

"Thank you. I appreciate your cooperation." Mitsuki gave her a small smile before noticing the girl from before she'd seen out of the corner of her eye again. She turned her head to look at her.

"Do you see the ghosts again?" Mina asked looking in the direction Mitsuki was looking but seeing nothing.

"It's that girl again," Mitsuki replied with a furrow of her brow at the girl. She gave a blink as the girl gave a small giggle before disappearing around a corner while beckoning her to follow. "She's signalling for me to follow her."

Turning, Mitsuki started heading towards where the girl had disappeared around the corner. Mina gave a blink at her, glancing back at Kirihara and her team, before following after the black and white haired girl. Mitsuki paused at the corner and looked down a hallway, hearing a slight bit of laughter echoing before the girl popped her head out from around another corner further down.

Following after the girl through the maze of hallways, Mitsuki found herself at a doorway that the girl had been standing in front of before disappearing through it. She gave a blink at the door as Mina caught up to her.

"She wants me to go through here."

"That...that's the way to enter the Gate," Mina spoke up blinking in surprise. "No one's supposed to be allowed into the Gate without permission."

"Then can I go?" Mitsuki turned to look at her. "I've always wanted to know what was inside the Gate. Hei told me it was eerie and silent."

"I...I don't know..." Mina glanced up and down the hallway that was empty for once. "It's...not really my call to actually let someone go in..."

"You don't have to tell anyone that you specifically let me do you?" Mitsuki glanced back to the door. She could feel the pull of something calling her to go into the Gate. More than just that strangely familiar girl. "I feel I need to go in there. I don't know why and I don't know what I'll find, but it's just urging me to go." She turned to look back at Mina. "Please. Let me go and see what it is that's calling me."

Mina gave an indecisive look before sighing slightly and nodded. She came forward and punched in the code to the door. It gave a beep before it unlocked and opened.

"Straight down this corridor there will be a gate. The code is three, two, two, eight, seven, nine. Once it opens, you'll be able to enter the Gate itself." Mitsuki gave a nod before starting to go through the doorway. "Just...just be careful."

"Thank you. And I will." Mitsuki nodded and quickly headed on down the corridor. She got to the gate like Mina said and punched in the code. It gave a beep before opening up to a dull, misty landscape that was silent and eerie.

Hearing laughter again as she stepped out into the surroundings, Mitsuki turned her head to see the girl as she ran off into the mist. She gave an intake of air and slowly let it out before following after the echoing laughter.

"Hello?" she called out after walking for several minutes through the silent streets. Hei was right. It was eerie and reminded her of something out of a horror movie set. Except this was real. There was no one there but herself.

"Mitsuki."

"Who's there?" She turned around looking through the mist at the echoing sound of a male voice calling her name.

"Mitsuki."

"Who are you? What do you want? You obviously wanted me out here."

"Mitsuki."

Turning again at the sound of the voice right behind her, Mitsuki turned to see matching two-toned greenish blue eyes and snow white hair falling in a familiar face. A soft smile was on his lips.

"Y-Yue?" Mitsuki blinked at the image of her brother standing there before her just as she remembered him the day of the accident. "B-but how? Y-you're..."

"The Gate is a strange place," he spoke softly as he came forward the few paces separating them. "It's letting me convey my thoughts to you that I wished to tell you." He reached his hand up and placed it against her cheek as her lower lip started to quiver and the sting of tears formed in her eyes. "I just wanted to tell you I'm deeply sorry that I never said anything about me being a Contractor all these years. And I wanted to apologise for leaving you all alone after the accident."

"It's...it's okay." Mitsuki felt the tears that had formed fall down her cheeks, giving a small shake of her head as she put her hand over his on her cheek. "I know you did it in order to save me that day. And saved all those other people as well." She gave a small hiccuping sob. "I know at first I thought I would rather have you be selfish and saved just me and maybe a few others but I know that wouldn't have been fair when you could have saved everyone, even if it cost your life." She gave a small smile. "Plus, I met Hei so I'm not really alone anymore."

"I know. And he's been good to you. I'm truly grateful for him making you smile again." Yue gave a soft smile. "I give my blessings to you both." Mitsuki felt her cheeks get warm with a small blush at his words. He gave a small chuckle while pulling his hand away from her cheek. "Will you do me another small favour?"

"What is it?"

"Will you tell Kaitou that I'm also deeply sorry that I didn't get to tell him goodbye properly?" he asked. "And tell him that I'll always love him no matter what and that I wish him happiness always." Mitsuki gave him a blink. "Yes, Kaitou is the only one I've ever loved deeply like that. I wasn't sure how you'd react so I kept it from you as well. I apologise for that."

"No. I'm glad you were happy with him," Mitsuki replied with a smile. "I sort of wondered about it seeing you two always together but I never asked. I thought if you wanted to tell me, you would." She gave a small pause while sniffling a little and smiled again. "I'll tell him. I promise."

"Thank you Mitsuki. You're the best sister anyone could ever ask for." Yue gave a smile before reaching into his jacket pocket and held his hand out to her enclosed around something. "The Gate is allowing me to give you this. Hang onto it for it is precious."

Furrowing her brow, Mitsuki held her hand up and he placed it in her palm. When he pulled his back, there was a circular clear disk in her hand no bigger than a yen coin. She gave a blink as she looked up at him for she recognised it as the same thing fashioned into a pendant he'd worn around his neck for the last six months before the wreck. Realisation set in as to what it was.

"Is this...?"

"The meteor core, yes." He gave a nod. "The remainder of the one Amber was going to use to transform Hell's Gate just like Hei's sister did with Heaven's Gate." He gave a small smile. "You've been chosen to hang onto it. But make sure no one knows about it. Many will try to steal it, for it is very powerful."

"I understand," Mitsuki nodded. "I'll keep it safe. I promise."

"I love you always my little sister. I'll always be near protecting you and everyone you hold dear."

"I know. I love you too Yue." More tears started flowing down her cheeks again as he put a hand up to wipe some of them away, leaning forward and gave her a soft kiss on her forehead. A bright light shone from the meteor core just then, causing her to close her eyes.

* * *

"...suki? Mitsuki?"

"I think she's waking up."

"Ngh..." Mitsuki groaned slightly. She slowly opened her eyes to look up at Kirihara, Saitou, Kouno, Mina, and several others standing around her in the misty surroundings of the Gate. "W-what's going on?"

"That's what we'd like to know," Kouno spoke up with his hands on his hips as Mitsuki slowly sat up with Kirihara's help.

"One minute we know you were nearby and the next we're being alerted that there was a bright light shining out inside the Gate here," Saitou spoke up. "Luckily Ms. Kandaswamy here told us she saw you head out here."

"Can you tell us what happened?" Kirihara asked with her brow slightly furrowed in concern.

"I..." Mitsuki gave a blink as she felt something in her hand she was clutching. She realised it was the meteor core.

"_...Make sure no one knows about it..."_

"I felt like something was calling me to come out here," she spoke up quietly, keeping her hand closed around the small disk in her hand. "I saw my brother. He was...smiling." Her lip gave a small quiver as more tears threatened to spill down her cheeks. "I heard him tell me he loved me and then..." She gave a small shake of her head. "That's it."

"You didn't see a bright light at all?" asked a man with a brown beard and moustache with his balding head on top. He was wearing a white lab coat like Mina was.

"I...I think I did for a brief moment but I really don't know," Mitsuki replied, shaking her head slightly. "Sorry."

"Why don't we get you back inside and out of this place?" Kirihara spoke up as she shifted herself from kneeling to stand. She held out a hand for Mitsuki to take.

Placing her hand in the older woman's, Mitsuki let her help her stand up. She pretended to brush herself off, slipping the meteor core into her pocket as inconspicuous as possible. Then heading back towards the entrance she'd come through with the others, they headed inside where the man that had asked her about seeing the light had her vitals checked to make sure she was alright as a safety precaution.

"You know you really have some guts going out there by yourself," Kouno spoke up as they headed back to the front entrance after finishing up what they had to do there. "Seriously, why _did_ you go inside the Gate anyway?"

"Like I said, I felt something calling me," she shrugged in return. "I guess the Gate wanted me to see my brother or something." She gave a small smile while clasping her hands in front of her chest over her heart. "I'm just glad I got to see him, one last time. It made me happy."

Looking at each other, Saitou and Kouno didn't say anything else about it. Kirihara said she'd take Mitsuki home and dismissed the others for the day.

"Sorry I made you worry," Mitsuki spoke up as they headed back through town several minutes later. "I just..."

"Was it true what you said?" Kirihara asked glancing to her as she weaved through traffic. "About being called to?"

"Yes. I wasn't lying about that," Mitsuki replied putting her hand in her pocket and enclosed her hand around the clear disk inside before pulling it out. "Nor was I lying about seeing my brother." She gave a small pause. "He wanted to tell me he was sorry about not telling me about him being a Contractor and that he left me all alone after the wreck."

"How? Isn't he...?"

"Like he told me, the Gate is a strange place. It allowed his thoughts to reach me so he could convey his message to me." She glanced down at her hands she'd enclosed around the core. Her instincts told her she could trust in Kirihara like always. "And...he wanted to give me something. Or rather what the Gate was wanting him to give me."

"The Gate gave something to you?" Kirihara furrowed her brow as she stopped at a red light and looked to the girl beside her. Mitsuki slowly opened her hand to reveal what was inside it. Kirihara furrowed her brow even more. "What is it?"

"The meteor core," she replied as she held it up slightly. "The remnants of the meteor shard that Amber was going to use to transform Hell's Gate like the one in South America. At least that's what Yue told me. He said that the Gate chose me to hang onto it." She pulled her lips into a thin line. "Even this little bit has enough power to amplify my abilities probably ten fold. It's what Amber told me that Yue had used in the train accident to save everyone and fuse with me. She gave it to him six months before the wreck when she ran into him while in town." She gave a small pause as she looked to the older woman gaping at her. "But I'm only telling you this because I trust you won't say anything else to anyone. Yue told me to keep it quiet since if others knew about it, they'd want to steal it for its power. Hei told me about it before too. He said so many Contractors fought and killed each other to try to possess it when he was in South America. At least the meteor shard itself."

"That thing amplifies a Contractor's powers?" Kirihara gave a blink at it before turning her attention back to the road as the light turned green. Hei's sister had used it to transform Heaven's Gate and Mitsuki's brother had used it to save everyone in the train accident. Now Mitsuki had it.

"Don't worry. I don't plan on using it," Mitsuki spoke up as she looked down at it in her hands. "And if I ever did, it certainly wouldn't be for anything destructive." She gave a small smile. "I'd rather use it to help others instead. Just like Yue did." She turned to look up at Kirihara still giving a soft smile. "That much I can promise. Until the day my star falls."

* * *

Well that's the chapter. Mitsuki got to speak with her brother again. And been given the meteor core just like Yue had been given by Amber. But this time from the Gate. *grins* What could possibly be in store for later? Guess you'll just have to wait and see.  
Anyway, thanks again for waiting for me to upload these installments. I've got several in the works, but the number of them in total, even I'm still working on. But there will be several that much I can say. *grins and hands out pocky*


	3. 3 Mao

Hello everyone! Hope everyone has been having a good year so far! Sorry it's been a little bit since updating. But here's the next installment for you! Enjoy!

_**Black Dragon, Snowy Moon  
**__Installment #03: Mao_

April gave a sigh as she turned away from the spot where November 11 had fallen after setting an empty beer can down as an offering. July had placed some flowers before taking her hand again. They started wandering along the street with no particular destination to go at the moment.

"You know. I never did get the chance to catch up with Mitsuki yet," she spoke up. "She still owes me a drink." She thought about the black and white haired girl that had been dressed up in her gear just several days prior during the events at the Gate. Mitsuki didn't seem like someone that would just outright forget something or blow her off like that.

Tugging on her hand, July stopped and turned towards the building they were standing beside with tall glass windows at street level. He raised his hand to the glass.

"Three blocks up," July spoke in his usual monotone voice. "She's looking for someone it seems."

"Looking for someone?" April gave a furrow of her brow before looking in the direction that July pointed. "Well come on. Let's go see what she's up to."

* * *

"Any luck?" Kirihara asked looking around at the area she and Mitsuki were searching.

"No. None." Mitsuki gave a sigh. "If only we had someone else to help rapidly look for him with us, it would make it much easier."

"Who're you looking for?"

Hearing a familiar British accented, female voice, both Mitsuki and Kirihara turned around to see the golden eyed Contractor come walking up with July. Both she and Kirihara glanced at each other.

"Oh I was trying to find a friend of mine," Mitsuki spoke up with a sigh. "But we've been having no luck."

"What kind of friend?" April tilted her head slightly.

"Um...well...he's a cat." Mitsuki pulled out a copy of the picture she got of everyone back from the birthday party for Hei and pointed at Mao. "This is him right here."

April studied the picture with a raised eyebrow. "Haven't seen any cat like that around here. Sorry."

"I understand. It is a big city after all." Mitsuki gave a small pause before glancing down to July as an idea popped into her head. "July? Do you think you could help me find this kitty right here?" Mitsuki showed him the picture and pointed at Mao. "If you help me, I'll treat you." She paused and looked up at April. "And I still owe you that drink. I can double it and buy you two."

"Well...when you put it that way," April started to say as she gave a grin, "I'd love to." She paused and looked over to Kirihara. "By the way, thanks for setting more flowers for November. I'm sure he'd appreciate that."

"Uh...it's no problem at all," Kirihara replied with a small smile.

Following July over to a window on a building, he placed his hand against the glass. Mitsuki showed him the picture again and he stood there for several minutes without saying anything. He gave a tilt of his head slightly while keeping his usual stoic look.

"I think I see him," he spoke up. "In a park on the other side of town." He raised his other hand and pointed in the direction he spoke of.

"I can get my car and take us there," Kirihara offered.

"That actually would be helpful," Mitsuki nodded then looked to the little boy Doll. "Thank you July. I really appreciate it." She paused and looked up at April. "Want to come with? That way after this is over, I can buy you that drink?"

"Sounds good to me love," April grinned with a nod.

Following Kirihara to her car, they all got in, Mitsuki sitting in front with Kirihara driving while April and July sat in the back. July had his hand up to the glass as they drove along giving directions.

Pulling up to the park, Kirihara turned off the engine after pulling over. They all got out, July giving a moment to look again with his hand to the car window.

"He's over there," July pointed through some bushes and trees. "I see him from the lamp post."

"Thank you again July," Mitsuki nodded before she started heading in that direction. She made her way with Kirihara just behind her while April and July stayed at the car.

Spotting the black cat up ahead curled up on a park bench, Mitsuki held a hand up to Kirihara. The policewoman gave a small furrow of her brow.

"Chances are, he'll be skittish and I don't want to startle him," Mitsuki spoke up quietly. "It might be best if I went over there alone. Never know how the feline side will be when he's not in control."

"Hmm you have a good point." Kirihara nodded and stayed back as Mitsuki approached slowly while pulling a can of tuna from her pocket. She hoped it would be a good bribing method for Mao since he always loved his tuna if he couldn't have salmon. Ears turned backwards before eyes opened up as Mitsuki approached slowly.

"Here kitty, kitty." Mitsuki saw the little bead she'd placed on Mao's collar from so long ago as a good luck charm. She knew instantly it was him for sure and not just some other black cat. July was good at finding him. Mao started to get up to spring away so Mitsuki stopped in her tracks before holding the can of tuna up. "I brought you something to eat. It's your favourite. Tuna." She pulled the tab back and popped the top open before holding it back out towards him, giving a small wave of her hand to fan the smell towards him. His nose gave movement as he started sniffing the air. "That's it. Come on Mao. You know you want some."

Watching the feline get up and jump down before slowly taking a couple of paces towards her and stop, Mitsuki slowly knelt down and set the can on the ground. She pushed it a little so it slid closer towards the cat before taking a slow step backwards. Mao slowly came forward, still sniffing the air, before leaning down at the can and started eating. Mitsuki waited until he seemed finished eating before making her move.

Stepping forward slowly, she saw him raise his head and look at her as he tensed up ready to spring away. She'd get only one chance for this and she was going to need all her training Hei gave her. With a quick couple of steps forward, she reached out just as Mao started to turn away. She quickly scooped him up in her arms as the cat thrashed about yowling, catching her with his claws.

"I'm so sorry Mao," she spoke up as red gleamed in her eyes. "Forgive me." With a quick small zap, she knocked him unconscious. The feline went limp in her arms.

"What happened?" Kirihara asked as she came up with a furrow of her brow. She'd watched the whole thing from where she had stayed put.

"I had to knock him unconscious," Mitsuki replied with a guilty grimace. "Obviously the feline part of his brain is way too skittish to handle people right now. I'll have to take him home and work with him on showing trust to get him to calm down. Though, in the meantime..."

"I'll make sure to get someone to put those servers up and running and try to bring Mao back," Kirihara nodded. She leaned down and grabbed the half eaten can of tuna. "Shall we head back to the car then?" Mitsuki gave a nod and they turned to head back.

"Whoa. What happened?" April asked as they returned and saw the cat being held gently in Mitsuki's arms. "I could hear the yowling from here."

"I had to zap him unconscious," Mitsuki replied. "It was the only way to keep him from running off and scratching the crap out of me." She looked at the few scratches on her arms and hands but smiled. "Worth the price though to get him back safely. I did promise him I'd take care of him after all. And I don't like to go back on my promises."

"I guess we better get him back to your place huh?" Kirihara spoke up and the younger girl nodded again. "Do you need to pick anything up on the way? Food and stuff?"

"No. I already prepared myself with what I'd need for him the other day," Mitsuki replied. "But thank you though."

Getting back into the car, Kirihara drove them back to her apartment. Mao was still unconscious and Mitsuki said she'd return momentarily to take him up and set him in her apartment, along with the half eaten can of tuna for him when he woke. She returned and said she'd make good on her promise to April and buy her a couple of drinks and July something tasty to eat. And also answered some questions that April had been wanting to ask her about BK-201 and her involvement with him. She kept the fact that she and Li were technically still human secret though and they did not have obeisances because of it. She also let April think having human emotions was the price they had to pay for their power.

"I still don't understand how you both have identical powers and obeisances," April spoke up after they'd headed back outside to the car and Kirihara was driving back down the street. "But I guess that's the Gate for you. They're still a mystery to everyone."

"Indeed. And maybe someday we might find out why they appeared and what they're all about," Kirihara added as she weaved through traffic. She'd kept quiet with Mitsuki about some of the truths of what had happened, leaving Mitsuki to explain what she was going to say to the British Contractor.

"True." Mitsuki nodded. "But I suppose in the meantime, all we can do is try to learn to get along with each other. It's what my brother tried to do." She gave a soft smile as she reached up and touched her dragon pendant and the meteor core she had sitting underneath hidden in her shirt on another chain after fashioning it into a pendant like she'd seen her brother have back then. She was glad the small zap of power to Mao earlier hadn't activated the meteor core.

* * *

"Well I guess we'll be seeing you around then," April spoke as she exited the car after Kirihara pulled up to the place she and July were staying at. "Take care."

"Thank you again for your help," Mitsuki smiled. "Both of you." April gave a nod before she and July turned to head off. July turned to look back and gave a small wave before Kirihara pulled back into traffic. "And thank you again for helping me to find Mao."

"It's not a problem really," the policewoman replied. "I just hope we'll be able to get those servers up quickly and restore him. I mean, I do still have quite the number of questions for him as well about the Syndicate that hopefully he can answer since Li isn't here." She gave a small pause. "I know it's only been several days since the Explosion happened and I know you don't know where he's gone off to, but has he possibly tried to contact you at all? I mean, at least to let you know he's alright?"

"No. Sadly he hasn't," Mitsuki replied with a small sigh as she looked to her hands clasped together in her lap. "I always look up to his star at night. As long as it's there, I know he's at least alive. Though I do wish I could hear from him, even just for a moment, I'd be happy. But I know with being on the run like that, it would be hard to communicate. Especially if it could trace them back to where they're at and allow enemies to attack them." She gave a small pause. "At least in the books I've read that's what it's like. But I know that is much more realistic than anyone thinks with what's written sometimes."

"Yeah. There is probably some truth to that," Kirihara nodded. "Still, I wish he would have stayed. He should know my team and I could have certainly put some protection detail on him. Though, like you said, the Syndicate would no doubt send other Contractors after him." She gave a sigh. "And with several higher ranking officers having been found to be part of the Syndicate, including Horai, I also can understand him not trusting even the police for protection. I still can't believe the Director was in on everything."

"Hei figured as such that time we came to give our statements after the Contractor attack actually." Kirihara gave a blink as she came to a red light. "Hei noticed the look Horai gave him and I, as if he knew Hei's alias and what he looked like. He probably had a file given by whomever else was in the Syndicate to keep tabs on the Contractors in the city. Probably even was part of the higher ups that gave Huang the information on jobs to pass to Hei."

"You know, now that I think about it, when Ootsuka mentioned BK-201 back when he first showed up in Tokyo, Horai did ask her if Astronomics was sure of that report. She didn't say it was wrong." Kirihara gave a pause as she continued on down the road while thinking. "And Horai did tell me during the events at the Gate that he and the Syndicate had been supposedly 'grooming' me and that I'd been working for them all along without my knowledge. He hasn't said anything specifically yet since being taken into custody, but he has confessed to being part of the Syndicate and of course with the evidence on the recorder of him murdering Nishijima. Otherwise, he's been pretty quiet."

"Hmm." The younger girl gave a pause in thought. "I know it probably would go against police code, but I could always come in and try to make him talk." She gave a shrug. "But given who he is, I can see why he's been so hard to get anything out of him."

"I suppose at this point, if we can get something from him that's useful, we could use the help," Kirihara replied with a small nod. "Especially when it comes to those servers for Mao. Who ran them? How were they put up? If we could pin down the right person and persuade them to help us out, that would be easier on our part."

"Yeah it certainly would be." Mitsuki gave a nod in agreement before giving a pause in thought. "Also, I have something for Ishizaki to look over."

"Like what?"

"I found Yue's data he'd been working on." Kirihara looked at her with wide eyes. "Seems he put everything on a little drive and instructed Kaitou to hang onto it until the time was right. When I ran into Amber just after revealing myself to you, she told me to look at the picture of our parents, Yue, and I together just before the Gates appeared. There was a note he'd left me hidden behind it that told me to go to Kaitou."

"So he knew about what it was the whole time?"

"No. He never opened the box. But he's glad that I finally have some answers." She looked down to her hands in her lap. "I still haven't had the chance to check out what's all on it. I didn't know what to expect and with everything that happened up to the events at the Gate, I guess my mind wasn't focused on trying to see what it all contained."

"Do you want me to let Kanami know that you have it?" Kirihara asked as she pulled into the parking lot of Mitsuki's apartment building.

"I suppose if you want to." She nodded. "I'll have to look over what's there to see if I can make anything of it first. I have the rest of the weekend off. Kaitou was a bit worried about me after I called him later that day after the events at the Gate to let him know I was alright. I explained to him I was helping you out with everything that went on so he gave me a small break so I could get myself back into the right frame of mind again before coming back to work. Minako and Hisoka have been worried sick too but I told them I'm fine."

"You still haven't told them about your powers have you?"

"No. I...I'm not really prepared for that yet." She pulled her lips into a thin line. "But I think I will tell them soon. I just...need a little more time to prepare myself for what they might react like. I mean..." She gave a slightly insecure look.

"Well, from what it sounds like with being good friends of yours, I'm sure they'll understand and accept you."

"I hope so." She gave a pause as she went to open the door. "Thanks again for helping me to find Mao and getting him back here safely."

"It's thanks to July for finding him quicker," Kirihara pointed out but smiled.

"True." She gave a smile as well. "I better go check on him and see if he's awake yet. I just hope the cat side will warm up to me quick enough while we get those servers going. I'd hate to have him scared of me the entire time."

"Like I said, we'll hopefully get those up and running quick enough," Kirihara nodded in understanding. "And like you said, if we could get the information we need from Horai, it would make it easier. I'm sure I could pull a few strings to get you in and make him talk. I suppose if I have to play 'good cop, bad cop', I will."

Giving a nod, Mitsuki got out and waved to the police chief before going to the door and upstairs to her apartment. She came in making sure Mao wasn't at the door trying to sneak out.

"Mao? Here kitty, kitty." She looked around for him after sliding her shoes off. "Where are you?" She couldn't find him in the kitchen or living room so she headed down to her room to see if he was down there. Sure enough, she found him under her bed. His eyes were wide and ears back as he looked at her. "Hey. Sorry about earlier. I know it's scary being here in the state you are in. But if you can understand me, know that I'm not going to hurt you. You're safe here with me."

Mao gave a slight growl and hiss at her.

"You really are a stubborn one aren't you?" She gave a small smile. "Well, whenever you feel comfortable to come out, I'll have more tuna for you."

Getting up, she headed out to the kitchen where she'd left the mostly eaten can earlier. It still had some food left in it. Figured he'd be scared enough to not want to eat yet. She went about getting her breakfast dishes washed before going back to the living room and pulled out her sketchbook; flipping through the pages of sketches. The first sketch she'd made of Hei with his Reaper mask on then him smiling in his Li alias was the one to get her to stop and look at it longingly.

"Oh Hei. Wherever you and Yin are, I hope you both are safe," she spoke softly to herself as she touched his pictures. She looked to Yin and Mao that she'd sketched and even to Huang. Frowning slightly, she wished she knew more about Huang so she could give him a proper goodbye since he hadn't made it. But also, she wondered if he had family and friends that would miss him.

Giving a small sigh, she put the sketchbook down and went to find something to read to try to take her mind off things. It wouldn't do any good to mope around. She needed to get her mind back into focus. Hei certainly wouldn't want her to worry any more for him than to be sad. After all, he said he would be back. And she knew he was strong enough to fight off whatever came at him. With Yin keeping a lookout, she knew they would be alright.

Picking a book out, she sat back down on the couch and started reading. It wasn't long before she noticed movement from the corner of her eye. With a silent tilt of her book down, she could see Mao standing there at the end of the hallway, nose to the floor, sniffing around. She decided to be quiet and watch what he was doing as he continued to sniff around while making his way closer towards the coffee table. Was he picking up his scent that would be concentrated on the coffee table and the couch since that's where he usually spent his time while he was here? And if so, would that help trigger the human side of him in the back of the animal mind to reawaken?

Continuing to watch him as he stopped at the coffee table, Mao paused and lifted his head as he sniffed the edge before bringing his paws up to it. He gave another few sniffs, as his ears moved back and forth before jumping up onto the surface of it. Sniffing some more, he made his way to the controller for the television and stopped, ears backwards a bit as his tail remained still. He then picked his head up and looked towards Mitsuki still watching him, ears backwards slightly.

"Are you trying to remember me Mao?" she asked quietly as she slowly closed her book so as to not startle him. She slowly set it down on the arm of the couch as she shifted herself. Mao tensed up like he was about to spring so she sat still for a moment. Then she slowly reached her hand out towards him so he could smell her. His nose wiggled as he sniffed and brought his face closer to her fingers.

Letting him sniff her hand, his ears backwards, he moved forward a little and started sniffing up her arm a little. She slowly turned her hand a little and gently rubbed his chest. Mao immediately stopped sniffing and froze for a moment as she slowly rubbed his fur a little more.

"See? I'm not going to hurt you," she gently spoke quietly to him as she continued to rub him. "You're safe here with me." It took another moment before she could hear the soft purring of his as she continued to pet him. "You like that Mao?"

Continuing to rub his chest a little, she moved her hand slowly up towards his ears. He continued to purr before stroking down along his neck and back a little. She started to pull her hand away but he brought his paw up and stopped her hand before nuzzling his face back against it. A small smile tugged her lips upwards.

"You do remember me don't you?" she asked quietly as she scratched his ears again before he jumped into her lap and curled up. "I miss hearing your quips, you know?" Mao gave a flick of the tip of his tail and purred louder. "I'll take that as you agreeing with me."

Continuing to pet him for a little bit longer, her stomach finally gave a growl. Mao's ears turned backwards before she stood and set him down on the floor. He followed her into the kitchen and sat off to the side watching her while she fixed food for them both. She served him some fish she cooked up and he ate it greedily before going to lay on the back of the couch.

Washing the dishes up and going back to read for a little bit longer, she went to get a shower and ready for bed but left the television on to a show she knew Mao liked to watch. She came back to the living room and found him watching the screen from his spot on the back of the couch where he'd curled up at.

"Watching your show I see," she smiled softly as she came over to sit on the couch with him. Mao's ears went backwards as he laid his head on his paws but kept watching the screen. She gave a small chuckle at him.

'Looks like he's able to take some control of the animal mind,' she thought to herself as she looked to the television herself as Mao continued to watch the programme. 'But without those data packs, he obviously can't talk like he used to. Though, how much of Mao is there and able to communicate is curious. I wish I knew more but until those servers are up, he'll be unable to tell me.'

Finally getting tired after the show ended, she got up and shut off the television. She turned to the black cat still laying on the back of the couch as he gave a yawn. With a soft smile, she leaned over and gave him a soft kiss on his forehead like she usually did. And like always, Mao turned his ears backwards.

"Goodnight Mao. I'm glad I was able to find you today." She gave him a smile. "After all, I did promise to watch out for you if something happened." She gave a small sigh. "Now if only Hei and Yin were here." This got the cat to perk his ears up and look at her. "They're on the run right now. But I know they'll make it back safe and sound. Hei said he would be back. It's just a matter of when that makes me antsy. But he didn't seem to do what Amber wanted him to do with sealing the Gate like Bai did." She reached out and scratched his ears for a moment. "I'm just glad that at least he's alright. I watch his star every night I can see it." She gave another pause before giving him another kiss on his forehead. "I guess, I'll say goodnight for now then. I can tell you more tomorrow."

Heading down the hall after shutting the light off, she finished getting ready for bed. After slipping under the blankets and laying there trying to get to sleep, she could hear the jingle of a bell just before the feeling of Mao jumping up on the end of the bed got her attention. His soft footsteps came up to the other pillow and even in the dark, she could tell he laid down and curled up beside her. She gave a soft smile before reaching her hand out to pet him gently.

"Goodnight Mao. And thank you for being here with me. I appreciate it greatly." A purr was her only response as she closed her eyes and fell asleep.

* * *

Well that's the chapter. Mitsuki got Mao back safe and sound. And made good on her promise to April with that drink from the main story. *grins* And yes, bits of Mao have surfaced a little to show he's still in there. Just he can't talk without those data packs (at least that's how I have it). But the feline side will continue to be dominant with bits of Mao popping up now and again until he's restored. *smiles*  
Anway, thanks again for your patience as I get these installments up. Look forward to another one soon!  
Again, any comments, critiques, and reviews are wonderful! I enjoy hearing what you think of these! *passes out cookies*


	4. 4 Research

Hey everyone! Sorry it's been a little bit updating again. It's been one hectic year so far the entire world over hasn't it? Hope everyone is staying safe amidst everything going on with this virus going around. So here's a chapter update to make things hopefully a little better (for a moment or two). *grins* Enjoy!

_**Black Dragon, Snowy Moon  
**__Installment #04: Research_

"So this is it?" Kanami asked as she and Kirihara sat on either side of Mitsuki a few days later after she and Kirihara had found Mao. The black and white haired girl had her laptop on her kitchen table and the little flash drive in her hand.

"Yeah. This is what Kaitou gave me that Yue had him hang onto all this time," the younger girl nodded before plugging it in.

"Have you looked at anything yet?" Kanami asked as Mitsuki opened the folder to the drive.

"No. I've been too busy with everything up until now," she replied with a shake of her head. "Especially when Hei decided to leave the Syndicate and started making preparations to do so, even though I didn't have any direct connection to him making his plans to get out. He said it would be tricky and he didn't want me to get any more involved than necessary for my protection."

"I still can't believe that shy looking kid has been our infamous BK-201 all this time," the reddish-blonde haired woman said, shaking her head in disbelief. Kirihara had told her about the whole ordeal after the events had happened at the Gate and had her swear to secrecy. Kanami had agreed, realising that she didn't want to see Mitsuki upset about Hei being dragged to jail any more than Mitsuki would because she aided him. "I guess it's the quiet ones you have to watch out for huh?"

"I guess so." Mitsuki gave a chuckle, along with Kanami and Kirihara before turning her full attention to the screen. "Wow. There's so many folders here. I don't even know where to begin."

"It looks like he categorised them based on the type of research he was working on," Kanami spoke up as she looked at the different folders from the side. She gave a blink as Mitsuki scrolled down through the list. "Wait. What's that? It has your name on it."

"Huh?" Mitsuki gave a confused blink as she clicked on the folder to open it. There was a video file sitting inside with her name on it, with a few other files labelled with Contractors, obeisances, Dolls, spectres, and other bits. It reminded her of his letter he'd written telling her about everything. Had he made them into a video to explain besides his letter?

"Why don't you open it?" Kirihara suggested. "Maybe it'll explain all his research?"

"Okay." She gave a nod before clicking on the file and opened it. Her video player popped up and Yue's face was looking directly at the camera.

"Mitsuki, my dear sister," he spoke in Mandarin. Mitsuki immediately blinked as the other two gave small furrows of their brows. "Seeing as you've found my research, that means I'm no longer alive." He gave a small, sad smile. "I'm sorry I wasn't able to give this to you in person. And I'm sorry that you're all alone now. I do wish I could see your smiling face again. But I'm just glad that you were able to survive the train wreck. I hope Kaitou has been keeping watch over you. And Minako and Hisoka as well.

"By now you should also have realised your own powers that have come to you," he continued. "It's my gift to you so you can live and be protected no matter where you are. I've made some videos explaining everything to you on all your powers and what it means to be a Contractor. I hope that they'll help you to understand and not to be afraid. I know you can do great things and help out many more people than I have been able to.

"And remember, always stay true to yourself. That's what I've loved about you growing up. You've always been a guiding light to me and kept my thoughts in check when I would lose my way in the darkness. My reason to live my life the way I did was all because of you. Keep shining your beautiful light and I know someday you'll find someone who can appreciate it just as much as I did. And when you do, make sure you let them know how much you appreciate them in return."

Mitsuki could feel the sting of tears forming in her eyes hearing her brother's voice and seeing him on the screen.

"Will you do me one last favour, Mitsuki?" her brother asked with a soft smile to the camera. "Tell Kaitou I love him dearly and that I'll always be grateful for him giving me a chance as well? You both mean so very much to me. I'm sorry I had to leave both of you alone like this. But let him know I'll always be nearby to protect him and you. I wish you both the best in life and I'll love you always." He gave a small pause. "Just remember to always keep smiling for me okay little sister? I love you."

Unable to hold back the tears that had formed, she felt them slide down her cheeks. Both Kirihara and Kanami gave a blink in confusion since they couldn't follow along with the conversation very well.

"A-are you alright?" the police chief asked.

"Y-yeah." Mitsuki gave a small hiccup and sniffled as she brought her hand up to brush away her tears. "He was just telling me he was sorry about leaving me and Kaitou alone but that he'll always love and protect us. And that the other video clips were talking about Contractors, Dolls, and everything he put into his letter. I'm sure he probably made these before he wrote the letter since he didn't tell me about how I'd be a Contractor in it. But in the video he did. I think he was just unsure when I'd get his research back and when I'd trigger my powers from activating. I mean, even after waking up in the hospital, nothing seemed different to tip off I was now a Contractor." She gave a pause. "Well, I suppose there were a few times I thought I'd caught a spectre but when I blinked and looked again, it was gone."

"So you did see spectres before awakening your powers?" Kanami asked in curiosity.

"Yeah, now that I think about it, I did." She gave a small pause then shrugged. "I just shrugged it off as a figment of my imagination. After all, I'd just gone through a traumatic ordeal and I've heard that sometimes that could play tricks on the mind. So the spectres I glimpsed for a brief moment seemed just that. Tricks. After all, Minako and Hisoka didn't see them when I pointed one out once just before activating my powers and also when I noticed them afterwards. I kept it to myself after that because I didn't want to worry them more than they already were because of the accident and of me losing my brother." She gave another small pause and smiled softly. "Though I am grateful that they've been there for me the entire time. And Kaitou too. Without them, I don't think I would have had the strength to keep my head up about losing Yue. I probably would have lost myself in the darkness of my despair." She gripped her hands together on her lap as she looked down at them.

"You should let them know how much they mean to you," Kanami pointed out with a soft smile as the black and white haired girl looked towards her. "After all, tomorrow's never guaranteed."

"That is true," Kirihara nodded. "If it wasn't for Kanami here, I'd have been lost as well on quite a number of ordeals I experienced in my life." She gave a small pause. "Especially when my mother passed away just before the Gates and also when the Gates appeared and chaos broke out across the entire city." She looked towards her friend. "Even when Alice died."

"I already told you it wasn't your fault," the reddish-blonde haired woman spoke up. "What happened to her was something you couldn't change." She went quiet for a moment before sighing softly. "Though, it does still hurt to know she died in unfavourable conditions."

Brown eyes looked to two-toned ones as the police chief spoke up. "I am grateful for Li busting in when he did to stop Wei. When I look back on it now, I should have realised it was him when the lights exploded on the rooftop garden before running into him while he was acting as a caterer. Though, I still wonder why he saved me then? After all, he didn't know me at all so there was no way he could have instantly admired me for handling myself in that situation."

"Well, he met Saitou that night didn't he?" Mitsuki asked, recalling their conversation back then when they went to give their statements. "While Saitou was undercover on the catering staff?"

"Oh yeah. Just after Li was sent to do dishes for having his stomach growl too loud, Saitou was sent there too." Kirihara shook her head. "He was chatting with me for a moment and his manager saw that and sent him back there." She gave a pause in thought. "I wonder if Saitou and Li talked back there at all? Saitou is the type to talk to others and be more friendly without having a motive to."

"It's probable." Mitsuki pondered herself about what could have gone on. Even if he was friendly on his own, certainly even Hei had realised Saitou was an undercover cop at that point. Knowing Hei's cautious ways, he was fishing for information about who Kirihara was after seeing Saitou talking with her. But it was only guessing since she couldn't be completely positive after all. "Seeing as I don't know for sure, my best guess is he might have realised you were a cop to begin with while talking to Saitou. I know he has his ways of getting information without making it seem he's prying for it either." She gave a small chuckle. "He did say infiltration was one of his specialties."

"In other words, a smooth talker," Kanami pointed out. Mitsuki gave a nod. "He did seem pretty smooth in an explanation that one time I met him at the mall with Misaki and he was picking out women's clothing. His excuse was getting it for a friend who's girlfriend's birthday was coming up." She gave a pause. "Was he getting it for you? Because you don't seem like the type for that sort of thing. No offence."

"No. He actually did get it for a friend," Mitsuki replied with a small chuckle before glancing at Kirihara. "It was someone he helped during one of his missions. He said it was a kid about our age that ended up falling in love with a Doll and wanted to run away with her. Hei could tell that he was serious about making sure the Doll was taken care of since I guess the kid's boss was going to sell the Doll for not so great purposes."

"Ugh. I hate those bastards that sell Dolls for those purposes," Kanami groaned. "They're the lowest of the low. I've helped to rehabilitate some that have been rescued from those situations."

"Do you know if the one he helped made it alright?" Kirihara asked. "And when you mean boss, do you mean like a mafia boss?"

"Yes. Hei got a package once from the kid with a bunch of food just after I was injured that time dealing with that Contractor that night with you. I only saw his name was Kenji on the package but that was it. With that much food, it was obvious he was doing alright." She gave a small pause. "As for the boss, I think it was mafia related." Tapping her chin as she recalled back in silence for a moment, she gave a nod. "Nakazawa I think was the name he mentioned?"

"Nakazawa? I've heard of them," Kirihara nodded as she recalled the ones they'd been watching for awhile. She gave a small furrow of her brow. "Wait...that was just after the incident with Amber and the first round of bombings that happened." She paused in thought again. "I know everything was pretty hectic then but I do remember his leg was injured when I ran into him meeting Amber. Though his back was to me the entire time so I never did see his face. Then it was like with a blink and they were all gone. No trace of them anywhere."

"My best guess is it had to do with Amber's powers," MItsuki pointed out. Both looked to Kanami.

"Don't look at me. I don't even know what her Messier code is."

"UB-001. That's the one that Horai told me during the events of the Tokyo Explosion," the police chief spoke.

"Ah. I'll have to look at that one when I return back to work."

"Please tell me Li was alright with his leg though?" Kirihara asked, looking at the black and white haired girl. "I doubt it was because he injured it at his job." Both other women raised eyebrows at her. "I ran into him a day later and he was limping a bit."

Mitsuki thought back to that time. It must have been when Hei had gone to check in with Huang and received his next assignment for the Nakazawa mission. "Yeah he was okay, though when Yin brought him to me that night after he'd gotten injured, he was in pretty bad shape. Lost a bit of blood and got a fever. But he did recover enough by the next morning. I had him stay put in bed so he could rest."

"Did he ever tell you what caused his injury?" Kirihara asked.

"Huang shot at him."

"His own teammate shot him?"

"Yeah…." Mitsuki gave a small embarrassed laugh. "I guess it was because Huang was told to keep Hei and Amber apart from the higher ups. They thought he was going to join up with her or something."

"But technically he did in the end to stop the Tokyo Explosion didn't he?" Kanami pointed out. "I mean, didn't she want to cause the explosion like in South America? Though with him stopping her plans, yet not going along with the Syndicate's to eradicate the Gates….doesn't that make it that he joined neither side and created his own?"

"Your guess is as good as mine," Kirihara replied with a shrug while looking at the black and white haired girl.

"I wish I knew the details. But until he returns, even I don't know everything." She looked back to the reddish-blonde haired woman before scooting the laptop towards her. "Might as well check out the rest of the research."

"Good idea." Kanami gave a nod before backing out of the folder that had the videos for Mitsuki and started taking a look through several other folders and data. "Wow. He really knew his stuff. I can definitely work off what I'm seeing here."

"I'm glad." Mitsuki gave a smile. "I know maybe one day his research can certainly help explain the Gates more."

"Indeed, I hope so too." Kanami gave a nod.

* * *

Well that's the chapter. Kanami now has her hands on Yue's research so she can continue where he left off. And a little more conversation on just how they felt about various things going on. They're certainly getting to be good friends indeed. *smiles*  
Anyways, thanks again for your patience in me getting these up. I hope to get another installment up soon! Stay safe out there! *hands out chocolates*


	5. 5 Misuzu

Hey everyone! Hope everyone is still doing well amidst all this with the world in the state it is in currently. Hope everyone is staying safe and continuing to remain healthy. Anyways, here's another installment for you! Enjoy!

_**Black Dragon, Snowy Moon  
**__Installment #05: Misuzu_

Mitsuki paused at the end of the pathway leading up to the main house and apartment building where Hei used to live before moving in with her. It was the next day after having Kanami take a copy of all of Yue's research so she could begin working on it. She spotted the elderly landlady of Hei's out sweeping before taking a breath and approached her.

"Oh hello," Misuzu spoke as she looked up to see the black and white haired girl come up. "If you're looking for Li, I haven't seen him in a few days. Not since just before all the strange commotion going on in the city."

"I know, I just….." Mitsuki pulled her lips into a thin line as she looked at the elderly woman.

"Did something happen?"

"Um….well….." Mitsuki gave a saddened look before rummaging in her purse for a moment and pulled out a small envelope and key. She held it out to the older woman with a small bow, who gave a curious look at it before taking it.

"What's this for?" she asked looking inside the envelope to find money. She recognised the key as the one belonging to the apartment. "What happened?"

"Li….he was…..deported I'm afraid," Mitsuki replied with a small sigh. She and Kirihara had decided that was the best course of action to take to make it believable to others so Hei's identity wouldn't be compromised to anyone else.

"What? What for?" Misuzu asked flabbergasted. "He wasn't in some kind of trouble was he? He seemed like such a good boy."

"It wasn't any of his fault." Mitsuki shook her head. "With the events that happened at the Gate and in the chaos that broke out in the city, some of the systems went haywire and his information got jumbled up at the embassy. They forced him to be deported. Hopefully things will be straightened out soon and he can return." She looked to the envelope that she'd found with instructions from Hei to please take the money and key up to his landlady to pay out the rest of his rent that he owed. "He did leave me that so you would be paid your rent though. And to return the key. He apologises he wasn't able to deliver it himself but he's already left the city, I'm afraid."

"I'm sorry to hear about his misfortune." Misuzu gave a shake of her head before furrowing her brow. "I don't understand why they have to go pick on someone like him. He never did anything wrong and always paid his rent on time."

"It is unfair, yes. But Chief Kirihara is helping me out with connections to the embassy to get the mess straightened out so he can return."

"Do you know when they might get it fixed?" The older woman gave a curious look.

"I'm afraid not." The black and white haired girl shook her head. "All they could say was soon. But given the whole mess that's still trying to be fixed up at PANDORA and whatnot, I have a feeling they'll put that as priority before dealing with Li's situation."

"Well thank you for bringing me this," she said, indicating the money and key. "I appreciate it. And I do hope that they'll fix things soon." She gave a small smile. "He did finally tell me you were finally together as a couple."

Mitsuki gave a small blush and smiled softly herself. "Y-yes. He actually asked me awhile back. I wasn't exactly sure how he felt until my best friend told him how I felt since I kind of told her I liked him. I was unsure how to go about letting him know. But I am glad for my friend's bluntness sometimes." She clasped her hands together in front of her. "I will miss him while he's away but I know he'll be back soon enough. It's just the waiting part that makes it hard."

"Well, you let me know when he returns okay?"

Mitsuki gave a nod. "I will." She gave a small bow to the older lady and started to turn before giving a pause. "Um….also I know he has his one friend that sent him food before. If he gets any more packages from him, you can give me a call and I'll come pick up the package." She pulled out a piece of paper from inside her purse and wrote down her number before giving it to Misuzu.

"Certainly. I'll be sure to give you a call then." She gave a pause. "What was your name again?"

"Yuuki. Yuuki Mitsuki."

"That's such a pretty name." Misuzu gave a smile. "Take care dear. And keep your head up."

"I will." Mitsuki gave a smile and bow before turning to head on her way.

* * *

Well that's the chapter. I decided to take the part from the Japanese version of the anime where he was mentioned to be deported to use for why he's gone. *grins*  
Anyway, thanks again for waiting while I get these chapters up. I know a bunch of people are out of work currently with some of the "non-essential" places. However, my work deals with what's deemed "essential" so I've still got to work. So I've been dealing with that on top of keeping up with housework. But with some extra time (and the muses being good with ideas) I'm still trying to get these out to you!  
Also, any reviews, critiques, and whatnot are appreciated! Thanks again! *hands out cookies*


	6. 6 Section Four

Hey everyone! Sorry I haven't updated in a little bit. Got sidetracked by stuff going on in life. But I'm back with another installment chapter for you! Enjoy!

_**Black Dragon, Snowy Moon  
**__Installment #06: Section Four_

"Thanks again for coming so early in the morning," Kirihara spoke up to the black and white haired girl as they exited the locker rooms to the training hall for Section Four to use before they started their day at the office. They had some training sessions from time to time to keep up being in shape while out running the streets after their suspects.

"Oh it wasn't a problem at all," Mitsuki replied with a small smile at the older woman. "I'm just glad I could be of some help with moves for your team to try." She gave a small sigh. "Plus I do kind of miss sparring with him." The day after she'd stopped at Hei's old landlady's house, Kirihara had called her asking if she'd like to do some training with Section Four.

"By _him_, I'm guessing BK-201?" Kouno spoke up as he, Saitou, and Matsumoto came out of the men's locker room in their workout uniforms. Kirihara had loaned Mitsuki a spare outfit while also wearing her own uniform for the training. The two women turned to look towards them as they came over.

"Y-yeah." Mitsuki gave a slightly sheepish look as Kouno raised an eyebrow at her. "BK-201 did give me training if that's what you're asking."

"I was going to say, those moves of yours did look really familiar from when we've encountered him in the past," Saitou pointed out.

"So that means you've seen his face when you trained?" Matsumoto asked curiously.

Mitsuki gave a blink before glancing at Kirihara for a second. "Well, he did do training in his gear. Especially when he brought me my own to use." It wasn't a lie. After getting all her gear, Hei did do quite a few training sessions while they were wearing it so she could get a feel of how to move and throw her carabineer and knives in it.

"Alright. Let's get this training started," Kirihara spoke up, breaking the momentary silence when her team glanced at each other after Mitsuki's reply. She realised they knew Mitsuki knew who BK-201 was but wasn't saying anything. "Yuuki, why don't you show them a few moves you know." The younger girl gave a nod as Kirihara looked at her team. "Kouno, why don't you go first."

"Me? Why do I have to go first?" Kouno grumbled as the black and white haired girl went over to the open expanse of mats on the floor.

"Because you're the youngest," Matsumoto replied with a smirk.

"Oh that is so not fair." The reddish-blonde haired guy gave a sigh before going over to stand facing Mitsuki.

"Don't worry. I'll go easy on you," she smiled before going into a defensive stance. "Go ahead and come at me."

Giving a sigh, Kouno went into his own stance before going to swing a punch at her. She quickly dodged, stepping around to his right side while grabbing his arm. Using his momentum, she picked him up enough to flip over her shoulder. He landed on his back on the mat with a grunt and wheeze. The others gave a look at how quick she'd been able to move.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to have you hit so hard," she spoke up as she held out a hand to him.

"You're good," Kouno said, taking her hand, letting her help him up with a small wheeze. "You're pretty strong for being small."

"I did gain quite a bit of extra strength during training sessions with him," she spoke up. "He did focus on core exercises a lot. Without a strong core, it makes it harder to move as fluidly. Plus, it takes more strength than most realise when using the wire to propel yourself through the air. And it all comes from the core." She gave a small pause. "And he also showed how to use the momentum of one's opponent against them to defend with. Kind of like what I did with you."

"Impressive," Matsumoto commented while Kirihara nodded. Even she knew that using one's momentum against them was a good strategy.

"Hey what about the ropes?" Kouno pointed towards the two hanging from the rafters nine metres up. "Since you said about the wires and climbing."

"We did training with that a bit as well," she nodded.

"Good. Saitou, you're up next," Kouno said with a smirk.

"Me?" The larger man gave a blink at his teammate.

"You're the one with the fastest time," Matsumoto pointed out.

"Fine." Saitou gave a sigh before heading over towards the ropes with the others. He situated himself at the base of one of the ropes as Mitsuki went to the other one.

"Alright. Ready?" Kirihara asked as she pulled out a stopwatch to time the two of them. Both gave nods. "Then on three. One. Two. Three."

Jumping up onto the ropes, Saitou quickly took the lead using his upper body strength. Mitsuki wasn't far behind but she started to pull up to even it out. Kirihara and the others on the ground gave a slightly confused look at her as she seemed to bring her knee up of her opposite hand she was reaching up with as she made her way to the beam the rope was tied onto. It looked a little awkward but she was able to reach the top just a few seconds before Saitou did. After that, she was able to descend fairly quickly and landed on the floor a few seconds before the larger cop.

"What was that move?" Kouno asked, confused to her.

"It was something I was shown actually," she confessed. "He actually showed me but I'm still working down the technique as I'm not that fast."

"Wait, BK-201 showed you that?" Matsumoto asked curiously. She gave a nod.

"Using your own momentum to climb up," Kirihara spoke up as the others turned their attention to the chief.

"Yeah. That's what he said it was for," Mitsuki replied, nodding. She knew why he did it too. Hei had explained that because he was smaller for his age when he was a kid, he lacked a lot of the upper body strength needed to climb as fast and efficiently as the others. So he improvised a lot and came up with this technique to use his momentum to help him out. It was also how he'd come up with using his opponent's momentum like she'd shown on Kouno earlier.

"Geez. No wonder he's so fast," Kouno said with a small huff.

"He's very smart," Matsumoto complimented. The others looked at him. "Well, it's why we could never catch him right?" He looked at MItsuki. "With a good team and strategic thinking, it's why he always seemed one step ahead of us."

"Y-yeah. He analyses everything," Mitsuki nodded as she brought her right arm up to hold onto her left as she looked towards the floor a little. "Despite knowing how to handle myself on many ordeals, he's a lot better at coming up with a plan than I could. At least one that is a lot better thought out."

"That's not necessarily true," Kirihara spoke up, getting the others and Mitsuki to look at her. She gave a small smile to the younger girl. "Remember you had to come up with a plan to get to Saitou and Kouno before coming to find me at PANDORA. Just running into the midst of all that fighting without a plan could have gotten you killed."

"And some serious guts," Kouno added. "I mean, you stepped right between Saitou and those bullets that time." He gave a shake of his head.

"And took down all those soldiers without killing them," Saitou also said. "To be honest, I'm still surprised you did that. I mean, BK-201….he's known to kill his targets but yet you said you don't kill."

"He…." Mitsuki pressed her lips into a thin line. She remembered she'd promised them an explanation during the events of the Tokyo Explosion but had never given them it yet. But she was trying to decide how much she should tell them without giving away who Hei was. "He didn't want me to be like him; a killer."

"That's odd coming from someone like him," Kouno pointed out with a confused look.

"Because he knew your obeisance and that you would feel the guilt," Kirihara spoke up, getting the others to look at her again. Mitsuki realised the police chief was trying to help her out with explaining why Hei trained her not to kill like he had been trained to do. She gave a nod.

"Wait, what is your obeisance?" Kouno asked curiously. They realised they had no idea what hers was. Just that her powers seemed to be like BK-201's with electricity manipulation.

Mitsuki gave a blink, glancing at Kirihara then back at them before speaking up. "Having a human heart and feeling emotions."

"Whoa. So if you were to hypothetically kill someone," Saitou started to ask curiously.

"I would feel the full weight of my actions," Mitsuki replied as flickering memories from the night she, Hei, and Kirihara had been attacked passed across her mind. "Because of that, BK-201 showed me how to incapacitate with my power when fighting and not to kill unless it is the absolute last resort."

"That really doesn't sound like the Black Reaper from the reports," Kouno said confused. "Everything mentioned about him is that he's ruthless and killed countless people. Shows no mercy." He gave a pause. "I mean, with all the bodies we've come across in the past when dealing with him certainly showed it."

"I know." The black and white haired girl brought her arm up across her and held her other arm as she lowered her gaze somewhat towards the floor. "Though I cannot say I have exclusively seen any of his targets taken down." She gave a pause as she glanced towards the police chief. "Well, only one when we initially met. But that was the only one. Otherwise, he didn't make it a habit to involve me with anything other than training."

"So I have a question," Matsumoto spoke up this time, getting everyone's attention on him. "We obviously know his power involves electricity like yours does. But what about his obeisance? He ever tell you what his was?"

Mitsuki gave a blink at the older cop before glancing towards Kirihara. The police chief also gave a blink but gave her a silent look with her eyes that it was up to her to decide if she wanted to say anything. After all, only Kirihara knew everything about them not being true Contractors or having obeisances.

"He did," she replied with a small nod. The others looked at her waiting for her to elaborate. "It's the same as mine."

"Whoa. Hold on," Kouno spoke up perplexed. "You mean to tell me he has the _exact_ same powers and obeisance as you?"

"I know. It was very interesting for both of us to learn that we both shared those similarities," Mitsuki nodded in reply. "Because of that, he decided to train me."

"I'm just trying to wrap my head around the fact his obeisance means he feels emotions," Saitou spoke as he scratched his head.

"So did he ever have a reaction to his payment with you?" Matsumoto asked curiously. She gave a small furrow of her brow. "Since you both trained using your powers."

"If he did, he was good at hiding it," she lied. She certainly couldn't say that some of the times after training, it led to them spending it in each others' arms for a while.

Suddenly, Kirihara's phone buzzed in her pocket. She pulled it out and answered it.

"Kirihara." The others looked at her since she usually didn't carry her phone with her to training. "Yes. Yes. Alright. We'll be on it right away."

"Don't tell me, a case already at this hour?" Kouno asked with a droll tone as she snapped her phone shut.

"You know crime doesn't sleep," Matsumoto replied.

"True." Kouno gave a sigh. "So much for training today."

"I'm sorry that it was such a short session," Kirihara spoke up as she turned to Mitsuki.

"It's alright. I understand that the job takes priority." The black and white haired girl gave a smile.

"Guess we'll go get changed," Kouno sighed before turning towards the men's locker rooms.

"We'd love to have you come back," Saitou spoke up to Mitsuki.

"Sure. I'd love to join you all again." She gave a nod before the guys headed in to change and she followed Kirihara back into the women's locker room. She turned to the chief. "Um...thank you again for letting me come."

"I'm glad you could make it." The police chief gave a small pause as she changed her shirt. "I'm sorry if they seemed a little nosy about Hei."

"It's alright. I understand they're just curious to know who he is." Mitsuki gave a small chuckle. "I mean, I'd want to know too if I were in their shoes." She gave a small sigh as she changed back into her normal clothes.

"Have you heard anything from him at all?" Two-toned eyes looked up at soft brown ones. "Like from a text or email or anything?"

"No. He never did carry a phone on him," Mitsuki replied with a shake of her head. "Mao told me once that most of the communication between them was all in person or handwritten on paper. Once it was delivered, it was to be destroyed so no evidence was found."

"Well I do have to give the Syndicate credit for that much." Kirihara gave a small sigh. "Though it does make it hard to backtrack some of the information I guess." She pulled her lips into a thin line. "We've got some people already working on those servers. It's just cracking into the Syndicate's that's difficult."

"As I said before, if you need me to make Horai talk, I'm up to the task."

"I did say that didn't I?" The chief gave a small sigh. "I'll see what I can do and get in touch with you later today hopefully, if that's alright."

"I'll make sure to keep my phone with me then."

* * *

Well that's the chapter. Mitsuki gets to show off a few moves that Hei taught her. And the others get to know a little more about BK-201 while still wondering who he could possibly be.  
Thanks again for your patience as I get these up. Hope everyone is remaining safe in these times as well. Until next chapter!


	7. 7 Reveal

Hello everyone! Since it's been awhile since updating, I thought I'd do a double chapter update with this and the last one. Hope you all enjoy!

_**Black Dragon, Snowy Moon  
**__Installment #07: Reveal_

"I still can't believe they deported Li." Minako gave a huff as she set the picnic basket down on the ground in the park they'd gone to. Hisoka pulled out the blanket from the bag he'd been carrying and spread it out on the ground for them to sit on. "It's just not fair."

"Well, it can't be helped that the events at the Gate would have had some impact on information," Hisoka pointed out though he was just as upset about the whole ordeal as well.

"I'm sure once everything gets straightened out on their end, he'll be able to come back without hassle," Mitsuki spoke up with a soft smile. It had been just over a couple of weeks now since everything had happened.

"Yeah but they shouldn't have goofed up the information in the first place," Minako sighed. "I mean, there's way more important things than deporting some good natured exchange student." She gave a small huff as she sat down with the others. "I mean, there's those strange occurrences going on throughout the city. Those reports of people having some sort of psychic abilities and whatnot. Wouldn't they be a bit more dangerous? What were they called again?"

"Oh you mean Contractors?" Hisoka replied. "At least, I think that's what they were calling them?"

"Well, only if they used those abilities for nothing good that would be a problem," Mitsuki added as she started passing out the food from the basket. "But certainly there are good ones out there."

"Maybe. But if they're so good, why don't they help with the bad ones?" Minako asked.

"Well...maybe it's because they don't want to get mixed up with being seen as bad?" Hisoka spoke up with a shrug. "I mean, you know how people can be. If they see others with vast differences, they tend to single them out and try to find anything negative about them."

"I guess I can understand that." Minako gave a small sigh as she started eating on the food she put on her plate. "Though...I wonder what it would be like to have those sorts of abilities?" She tapped the ends of her chopsticks against her lips. "And what kinds of abilities are there?"

"There's all sorts of abilities I'm sure," Mitsuki replied while shrugging. Inwardly, she really wanted to tell them about herself but even with the positive attitude they seemed to be showing, she was still nervous and scared. It was already bad enough she had to lie about Hei having been deported but that was the official scenario that even Kirihara had said was the best way to go and still keep his identity secret from the others.  
"Well...if I had some sort of power like that I'd totally make it where Li was here with us," Minako spoke up and Mitsuki gave a blink at her. "You know you wish he was here too."

"Yeah. I guess I'd love to find some way to get him back here." Mitsuki gave a small sigh.

"By the way, have you heard anything from him at all?" Hisoka asked with a small furrow of his brow. "Surely he's called you to let you know he's alright?"

Mitsuki gave a small shake of her head. "No. He never did get a chance to get a cell phone while he was here."

"And he never left you with any number to contact him before he was deported?" Minako gave a puzzled look when Mitsuki shook her head again. "I swear, if he doesn't contact you soon, I'll have a fit myself. And when he finally gets back here I'll be exchanging words with him."

"I'm sure he wouldn't want to inconvenience me with long distance charges," Mitsuki shrugged trying to think of any excuse possible that could be legit as to why Hei hadn't been able to contact her. Granted, she did wish he would somehow let her know he was alright. She just hoped he still had her number she gave him what seemed like so long ago now. That would be the only reason why he hadn't possibly been able to at least send some sort of message, even if brief.

"If Hisoka was away like that, I totally wouldn't care about it being long distance or not," Minako spoke as she looked over at him. He gave a small, slightly embarrassed look while chuckling. "I'd just want to know he was alright and to hear his voice."

Suddenly, there was shouting coming from nearby. Mitsuki looked back behind her shoulder as a man came running into the park holding something in his arms. It looked like a bag of some sort and it was full of something. A couple of officers came running after him.

"Stop! Get back here!" one of the officers shouted.

Turning to look over his shoulder, the man kept running before spotting Mitsuki, Minako, and Hisoka before turning and veering straight for them. The three gave surprised gasps at him heading their way. Before Mitsuki could react, the man's eyes gave a gleam of red as blue outlined him. The sudden feeling of being unable to breathe struck the three of them as the man stopped a couple of metres away and turned his attention to the officers. They suddenly dropped their guns and put their hands to their throats as the man turned his power on them as well.

"I...I...can't..." Minako gasped as she put her hand to her throat desperately trying to intake air. Mitsuki could barely breathe herself but she knew the only way to stop the Contractor's abilities from working on them would be to knock him unconscious. It was one of the lessons Hei had taught her while training. Should a Contractor use their powers that affected others in the area, it was best to incapacitate them quickly by zapping them unconscious. And with precious time ticking away being unable to breathe, she knew she couldn't wait to react and think out her situation. She just had to go with it and now.

Reaching down to her belt she had worn that day, as she did a lot of times just in case, she released the wire from it as she reached into her pocket and pulled out a carabineer and quickly fastened it to the end. With a quick flick of her wrist, she flung it at the Contractor that had his gaze turned on the officers. It wrapped around his neck quickly, surprising not just him but the others as well. Without hesitation, the red glow ignited in her eyes as blue surrounded her and she sent a jolt of electricity down the wire. The other Contractor gave a scream before collapsing to the ground unconscious; the blue outlining him fading away. The next instant gasps were heard from the two officers and her two friends as they were finally able to take in a breath of air. Mitsuki also took in her own deep breath. She looked at the officers staring at her before looking at Minako and Hisoka also gaping at her in equal surprise as the blue faded along with the red gleam in her eyes.

"Y-you..." Minako stared at her best friend in utter astonishment. Hisoka blinked at her, also speechless.

"I...I can explain," Mitsuki spoke up before turning to look at the two officers who had recovered themselves and had picked up their guns again. She raised both hands in front of her, palms out, to signify she wasn't going to do anything further. "May I retrieve my wire, officers? I assure you I won't attack either of you." The two glanced towards each other then looked to the man lying on the ground. "And I assure you he's not dead. Merely unconscious. If you want proof I'm not a danger, you can contact Chief Kirihara of Section Four. She will vouch for me."

"Y-you know Chief Kirihara of Section Four?" one of the officers spoke up blinking in surprise.

"Yes. I work with her and her team helping to stop others like this man here," Mitsuki replied. "Unofficially anyway." The other officer gave a small inclination of his head towards her.

Going over towards the man, Mitsuki unwound the cord from around his neck and retracted it back into her belt as the one officer called in for backup. She backed off as they came forward, one grabbing the bag from the ground where the Contractor had dropped it and the other cuffing him. The sound of sirens could be heard in the distance. Mitsuki knew no doubt that Kirihara and her team were on their way.

Turning towards her friends, Mitsuki saw them continuing to stare at her. She held her hands up in front of her as she approached slowly, hoping with everything in her that they weren't going to reject her. She hadn't wanted to break it to them like this.

"I'm sorry...I...didn't mean to scare either of you," Mitsuki spoke up as she stopped at the other edge of the blanket and slowly lowered her hands to her sides.

"A-are...are you...a...?" Minako started to ask in quiet disbelief as she stared at her best friend before her.

"A Contractor?" Mitsuki finished for her. She nodded. "I am." Both stared at her wide-eyed. "And Yue was as well."

"Y-Yue was?" Hisoka gave a blink in surprise at her just as the sound of the sirens cut out. Mitsuki turned to look in the direction the man had run into the park, only to see Kirihara and Saitou come running their way.

"Y-Yuuki?" Saitou asked as he and the police chief came up before her. Kirihara took one look towards the unconscious Contractor then back to Mitsuki.

"He was using his power to keep us from being able to breathe," Mitsuki informed her. "I had no choice but to use my power to knock him unconscious."

"I suppose that was unavoidable," the policewoman nodded then looked towards Minako and Hisoka. "Witnesses?"

"Um...yeah." Mitsuki pulled her lips into a thin line. "My best friends actually."

"They don't...?" Kirihara started to ask, realising that these must be the friends the younger girl had mentioned before that didn't know about her powers. Mitsuki shook her head to let her know that she hadn't told them yet. "I see."  
"I was still debating on a good time to explain to them about it. Just..." She glanced towards the unconscious Contractor that Saitou was injecting a tranquilliser into to keep him sedated. "Well I didn't expect it to be like this."

"I understand. Though I'll still need your statements of what happened." Mitsuki gave a nod as Kirihara went over towards the two. Mitsuki followed, keeping her hands clasped in front of her and her gaze lowered a little. "You both are Yuuki's friends?"

"Yes. Yes we are," Hisoka nodded as he glanced at Mitsuki keeping her gaze lowered slightly.

"Could you tell me what happened?"

"Well, we were eating lunch and then that man came running in through that entrance over there," Hisoka spoke as he pointed at the entrance. "The officers were chasing him and the man came running towards us. His eyes gave a gleam of red and was outlined in blue before the three of us found ourselves unable to breathe. The officers also had the same happen to them. But then Mitsuki here threw that cable thing at the man and it wrapped around his neck before her eyes gave the same red gleam. He gave a scream and went to the ground unconscious and we could all breathe again." He gave a soft smile. "She saved us. And I'm grateful to call her a friend."

Mitsuki gave a blink as she looked up at him smiling just before Minako came forward and threw her arms around her.

"She's the bestest friend anyone could ever have!" Minako said as she hugged her. "I don't care if she's human or one of these Contractor people everyone's talking about. She's my little sister and no one's changing that." She let go of Mitsuki enough to look at her with a soft smile on her face.

Mitsuki gave a blink at her. "Minako..." She looked towards Hisoka. "Hisoka..." Her heart swelled with happiness that her two friends weren't going to shove her away and call her monster or freak. She glanced at Kirihara, who gave her a small smile as well, obviously glad to know that Mitsuki's friends still cared about her.

Finishing up with everything, the officers thanked Mitsuki before hauling off the Contractor. Mitsuki gave a sigh now that she was alone again with her friends.

"Okay I want to know _everything,_" Minako spoke up. "And don't sugar coat it. Just give me all the details."

"Well, first off, Yue was a Contractor before me," Mitsuki started to explain. "He became one the night our parents were killed by another one to protect both of us. He killed the other one, which caused me to freak out because of what was going on, so he erased my memory of that night. That's why I never could remember the details of what happened. It wasn't just because of it being so traumatic that I blocked it all out." She gave a small pause. "Plus, he really didn't want me to have to remember the horrible way our parents died in front of us. It's a memory he kept for himself."

"Wow. That's...I don't really know how to describe that," Minako spoke up with a blink. "And killing the other Contractor, even in self defence...that's got to be hard on the psyche, you know?"

"Believe me, it is." Mitsuki pulled her lips into a thin line, lowering her gaze slightly. "I know why all the times he got so overly emotional and bawled his eyes out while I held him, trying to comfort him with whatever was bothering him. He never would tell me but I know that's part of the reasoning why he had breakdowns every now and again."

"So...what was his power?" Minako tilted her head slightly as did Hisoka.

"The same as mine: manipulation of electricity and molecules." Both furrowed their brows. "I can generate electricity through a conductor of some sort. I can't send it through the air. Neither could Yue." She held her hand up. "I can show you if you want. I promise it won't hurt."

Looking at each other then back at her, they gave nods. She reached her hand out towards them as her eyes gave their signature red gleam. Keeping her power lowered to barely the amount it would be like to shock someone after scuffing their feet and building up static electricity, she unleashed her power to their hands. They jumped a little at the sudden feeling of it but blinked in surprise and fascination.

"That is so cool," Minako spoke up once Mitsuki had pulled her hand back to herself and the red glow faded from her eyes. "You're like some walking stun gun!"

"How come you didn't have the blue outline like you did earlier?" Hisoka asked curiously.

"If I keep my power down low enough, I can actually make it where the blue doesn't show," Mitsuki replied with a smile. "And it's called synchrotron radiation. Yue explained everything to me in a letter I found shortly after the wreck. Up until the day of the accident, I had no clue about him being one."

"Really?" Both blinked at her.

"Yeah. He kept it from me because that night, when I freaked out, I called him a monster." She lowered her gaze again slightly. "His obeisance with feeling emotions had him realise that he didn't want to lose me so he made the choice to erase my memories and keep the knowledge about it from me so I couldn't reject him again."

"Obeisance?" Hisoka gave a confused look.

"It's the price he paid for using his power. All Contractors have a price to pay for using their powers. It could be an action oriented one like having to eat a certain food or drink, draw, recite something, smoke cigarettes, or whatever. But it's up to the Contractor to be able to perform it in a timely manner in order to pay for using their power. Then there are automatic ones, like what Yue had with feeling emotions. They just kick in and there's no stopping them from happening."

"Wait...so you're saying he felt emotions as his payment?" Minako blinked confused.

"Yes. See, Contractors...they think with a rational mind. In a way, they give up their emotional aspects that make them human. Some might call them cold-hearted in a way because they no longer let emotions affect their judgment. If it has nothing to do with them and preserving their own self, they won't act on it." She gave a pause trying to think of a way to explain it better. "Like say someone was in trouble and the only way to save that person might be to sacrifice your own life. A Contractor won't think twice about saving that person because it would cost their own life so they wouldn't care if that person lived or died."

"That...is cold." Minako frowned.

"But that's where Yue was different," Mitsuki continued. "Because of his obeisance to feel emotions, he still cared. He told me he used them every day long enough to trigger his obeisance to feel for a while. It was the only way to continue to protect me and to make sure no one else found out about him. After all, there are organisations out there that employ Contractors for less than favourable jobs."

"Wait...you mean like...like...assassins?" Minako gave a blink as Mitsuki gave a nod.

"Yeah." She gave a small sigh. "He didn't want that at all, which is why he kept it from everyone. He couldn't bring himself to kill more than that one Contractor. That's why he tried his best for the rest of his life to help as many people out as possible. It was to atone for killing that one person."

"What happened in the wreck?" Hisoka asked. "They could never find his body. And the reports said there was a bright blue light along the whole train that matched the colour of what you had." He gave a small furrow of his brow. "Was that...?"

"Yes. That was Yue using his power," Mitsuki nodded. "He used his power, the real part of his power that goes beyond the electrical aspects and into the realm of quantum physics, that helped to save everyone on that train, including me." She gave a small smile, albeit a little sad, as she clasped her hands together on her lap. "I was told by another Contractor that had met with him six months before the accident of what was going to happen and he had a few choices in the matter on how to deal with it. The wreck would happen no matter what, whether we were on it or not. If he tried to stop it, it would only happen to another train later on. If he decided not to ride the train that day with me, it would still crash and everyone would have died. I would have been spared death that day, but later on, I would face another accident that would take my life. At that time, he wouldn't be at my side so I would die alone without him. Once that happened, he would have snapped and lost caring about a lot of things. I guess, I was one of the ones that held his human heart because I was his only blood relation left.

"However, he was told that if he was on the train that day with me, there was a chance to save everyone on the train, including me. After all, that day, I was going to die." Both gave blinks of surprise at her as she put her hand to her side where the snowflake scar was. "It all happened so fast that I really didn't know what happened. One minute, we were riding along, and the next, we crashed. I just remember this stabbing pain in my side where a shard of glass had punctured through my ribs and into my lungs. It was hard to breathe since my lungs were filling up with blood after all."

"Wait...but...the doctors..." Minako gave a confused blink at her.

"When Yue activated his power, he healed me, along with everyone else on the train so they weren't seriously injured. But to do so required his maximum power to be used, along with a little artefact from the Gate he was given by the Contractor that had told me about his choices he had to make. It was the meteor core she'd given him to amplify his power several times more than would have been able to do normally. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to save everyone, only a handful and myself." She gave a small pause. "However, since my injuries were to such a great extent already, he had to use most of his power on me. What he actually did was fuse with me in order to heal me."

"F-fuse?" Minako blinked along with Hisoka.

"The reason they never found his body was because he's here with me," she replied, putting a hand up to her chest over her heart. "He fused himself with me. There was no other way to heal me from such a severe wound." She reached her hand up to the white of her hair and pulled it forward. "It's because of that my hair and eyes changed as they did. The Contractor that told me this said it was a small side effect of the process. It's proof that he's with me."

"Wait...so he's...like...part of you then?" Mitsuki gave a nod while Minako gave a surprised look and Hisoka blinked.

"I can't really explain much other than that since, like I said, his power extends into the quantum physics realm. And I'm far from trying to understand that. Ishizaki, Kirihara's friend that works up at the Astronomics observatory, started explaining some of it to me." She gave a small chuckle. "I had no idea what she was really talking about but Yue knew since he was researching about the Gate and everything. After all, that day he met that Contractor and was told about what would happen, he stopped using his power."

"Wait. But then he wouldn't have his emotions," Hisoka pointed out. "And you said Contractors won't act with an emotional response if it didn't serve them any purpose."

"True. But he was doing an experiment," Mitsuki replied. "He decided to see if he could feel something without having to use his powers to trigger his emotions. And you know what?" Both furrowed their brows slightly. "He wrote in his letter that he had begun to feel something again. That maybe his emotions were beginning to return on their own without his obeisance being triggered. And yes, that day of the wreck, when he chose to give up his life to save everyone on the train, he did so without his obeisance dictating his actions. He did it on his own accord." She gave a small, albeit sad, smile again. "That's why I know he may have been a Contractor, but he was still human deep down."

"And what about you? You're a Contractor now too," Hisoka pointed out again. "And you have the same powers as him. So what is your obeisance?"

"See, that's the thing." Mitsuki gave a small shift in her spot where she sat as she clasped her hands together on her lap again. "When Yue fused with me, he transferred all his powers to me. In reality, I'm still human but with his powers. Also, because he gave up his body when he fused with me, his price was paid in full, thus I do not have an obeisance." Both blinked at her as she put a finger to her lips. "However, should word get out about that, I would undoubtedly be whisked off to PANDORA to be some sort of lab rat. The only people that know about the truth are Kirihara, Ishizaki, Kaitou, Mao, Yin, and Hei."

"W-wait. The boss knows?" Minako blinked in surprise as she gaped at the younger girl.

"Yeah. He actually knew about Yue the whole time. He told me that Yue actually saved him from a Contractor attack, revealing his powers to him in order to do so. Yue told him he should erase his memories of his knowledge about Contractors but Kaitou was the one that asked to keep his memories and his being a Contractor secret." She gave a soft smile. "Yue allowed him to keep his memories because Kaitou didn't want to forget about the one that had saved him and was grateful to my brother for it. But, he had Kaitou not say a single word to me because of not wanting to get rejected again for it. He was always worried about that. I can understand that mutual feeling, which is why I kept it from both of you the entire time. I didn't want you to reject being my friend because I was different now."

"Well, like I said earlier, it doesn't matter if you're human or Contractor, you'll always be my little sister," Minako smiled. Hisoka nodded in agreement.

"Thank you." Mitsuki smiled as she looked between the two of them. "Both of you."

"By the way, you said Mao knew about you. Are you talking about Mao, as in that black cat Mao?" Minako asked, confused.

"Yep. That would be correct." Mitsuki gave a nod as Minako's face turned to complete surprise. "Mao is also a Contractor. His ability allows him to body jump into animals. However, he lost his original body so now he's stuck as a cat. Or any other animal he decides to jump into at least. Though he prefers a cat."

"Wait. How do you know he prefers cats?"

"He told me so."

"You can speak cat?"

"No. He can speak plain Japanese like you and I can." Mitsuki chuckled. "Even Chinese."

"B-but how?!" Minako gave a confused look as did Hisoka.

"He told me once that he's connected to servers that help keep him in balance, otherwise the animal brain takes back over, leaving him kind of like a passenger in the back seat unable to control the body. There was something about data packs he must download that allows him to also make up for what the animal mind lacks, thus allowing him to speak outwardly like any normal person can."

"Okay. That's kind of interesting and freaky but in a cool sort of way I guess." Minako looked to Hisoka as he chuckled. "I kind of want to talk to him now that I know."

"I'm sure he won't mind, though I warn you, he's sassy like no other," Mitsuki replied with a chuckle herself. "Sassy and stubborn. But that's what makes him pretty awesome as well."

"Okay. So who's Yin?" Minako raised an eyebrow in question.

"She's Hei's Doll."

"Doll?"

"They're like Contractors in a sense, as they're also changed by the Gates, but they are like their namesake. They have to be 'programmed' as what it's called in order to function and do anything, otherwise they'll just sit there motionless just like a doll might sit on a shelf unable to move or do anything." She gave a small smile. "Yin was programmed to do reconnaissance for Hei and his team. However, she's unique as well. She's actually been showing signs of learning and doing things on her own for a while now. Something that Hei didn't want others to know, lest they take her away and basically 'wipe' her and have to 'reprogramme' her again. He didn't want her to lose her personality that she developed."

"So who's Hei?" Minako raised another eyebrow at the black and white haired girl.

"Um...well..." Mitsuki lowered her head slightly to look down at her hands in her lap. "It's Li's name he was given when he joined the Syndicate."

"L-Li!?" Minako gaped at her best friend again. Hisoka also blinked in surprise at the information. "Whoa. Hold on. So his name really isn't Li? And what's this Syndicate?" Mitsuki looked up with a sheepish look and realisation crossed Minako's features. "Wait. Team. Reconnaissance. Shady organisation name..." Minako gaped in surprise. "Are you telling me he's like a spy or an assassin?!"

"Eh hehe. Y-yeah." Mitsuki gave another sheepish look as she fidgeted with her fingers.

"But wait. He told me his sister went missing five years ago when we had that game night together," Hisoka spoke up with a confused look. "He looked really torn up about it."

"He is. Was," Mitsuki replied with a small nod. "See, his sister was like Yue. A Contractor with the same powers, however, her obeisance was to sleep." She gave a small pause trying to decipher how much she should say and what exactly. "His parents were killed much like mine were, by a Contractor. In his haste to keep his sister from being found out by authorities of being a Contractor, he ran away from home and his other family with her. He was only twelve, like Yue and I were, but his sister was only nine."

"Wait...his parents were killed by a Contractor as well?" Mitsuki nodded and Minako furrowed her brow slightly before her eyes widened in surprise. "Please tell me his sister didn't...?"

"I'm afraid she did." The younger girl pulled her lips into a thin line and gave a slightly saddened look. "Yet he still wanted to protect his sister like an older brother should. Thus, why he ran away from home. He told me about living on his own for a short time before the Syndicate found them. They wanted his sister because of being a Contractor but gave him the option of having his memories erased and returned to his family if he so chose to. He told me what kind of brother would he be to take that and leave his only sibling alone with no one to protect her? And what would his parents think about it as well if they were still alive. So they gave him the option to become a mercenary and stay with his sister. It was either that or be killed on the spot."

"Wow. I...I don't know what to say," Minako spoke quietly. "He sacrificed everything to protect his little sister." She looked down at her hands in her lap. "So he's...he's actually...really killed others?"

"Not by his choice. It was either kill or be killed. Especially since he and his sister were in South America before Heaven's Gate vanished."

"He...he was there?" Minako blinked.

"I heard about how bad the fighting got there," Hisoka added, surprised as well. "He...he must have seen a lot." Mitsuki nodded. "Wait...was he there when...when Heaven's Gate vanished?"

"He was." Mitsuki pulled her lips into a thin line. "The Contractor that spoke to me about it all...it was his sister that caused it." Both of them gaped at her. "Hei never knew about it. His sister did it in order to protect the Contractors and Dolls from being eradicated off the face of the earth. The Syndicate had plans on destroying the Gates the entire time, thus enacting a mass genocide of all the Contractors and Dolls in one go. That's what they tried to do here just a couple of weeks ago, but Hei stopped them."

"Wait...he...he stopped them?" Minako blinked. "Wait...then Li...Hei...he's a Contractor?"

"Yes and no. He's like me. He's still human but his sister had the same power Yue did and fused with him in order to keep protecting him all this time."

"That's why he could never find his sister," Hisoka pointed out and Mitsuki nodded.

"The Contractor...well I figured she was planning on using the power of his sister's infused with him in order to transform the Gate just like in South America. But knowing Hei, once he heard about that, I'm sure he would have refused. I don't know what all happened since obviously the Gate didn't have the same effect as in South America but I know he did stop the Syndicate from their plan at least. He's on the run with Yin since the Syndicate cut him and his team loose just before the events happened at the Gate. I don't know why but I know right now, he's running to keep me safe and out of the Syndicate's rampage of trying to kill him from going rogue." She paused for a moment looking down at her hands in her lap. "Though, honestly, I would have fought by his side to protect him too. He knows that I would but he didn't want me to kill any more than I had to."

"Kill? Wait...have you...?" Minako furrowed her brow as she looked at her best friend. Two-toned eyes slowly raised to gaze back at her.

"Like Yue, I've only ever done so once," Mitsuki spoke up quietly as she lowered her gaze to her hands clasped together in her lap. "I honestly didn't mean to. I should have pulled my power back but...seeing Hei injured and unable to use his powers to stop the Contractor attacking us and Kirihara, I kind of let my emotions take over. My anger just sort of overpowered me and I unleashed my power at full force on him without holding back." Her lower lip quivered slightly. "I still have nightmares once in a while from it. Hei said it's normal since he deals with it and panic attacks all the time from everything he's done. I now understand all the anguish that Yue went through from time to time when he got distraught over things he wouldn't tell me. I know it was probably from the guilt of having killed that Contractor. I mean, I could always have my memories erased of it if I so chose to but it won't change the fact it happened. Plus, it was the night I was able to finally reveal myself to Hei about my powers since up to that moment, he'd thought I was just a plain human."

"Wait, he didn't know about you having powers?" Minako gave a confused blink.

"No. I never told him about them at all. As I explained after the ordeal and we were alone without Kirihara around, when we got closer after meeting and all, I wanted him to see me for me, not what I was because of my powers." She gave a small smile. "Yes, he was pretty pissed at first thinking I lied to him but I pointed out I never did and he had only assumed I was just an ordinary human. He realised his mistake and also realised it didn't matter what I was. He loved me for me just as I love him for him. That's always been the truth."

"So did you know about him being a Contractor...well...you know...the whole time?" Hisoka asked with a small tilt of his head.

"Yeah. I did." She gave a small smile again. "Remember when I twisted my ankle?"

"Oh yeah. Didn't you say he helped you then?" Minako nodded remembering back to when Mitsuki had to call in for work from that.

"Yeah. He did. That was actually the second time we had met then." Both gave small furrows of their brow at her. "The first time was a week beforehand when I was walking later at night and ran into him while he was tracking down a Contractor. The other decided to try to use me as a hostage and I was just going to shock him unconscious until I saw Hei show up in his gear."

"Gear?" Minako gave a blink.

"Uh...yeah...I'll have to show you the outfit he wore while doing his jobs for the Syndicate." She gave a slightly nervous and embarrassed laugh while scratching the back of her head. "He uh...actually had a matching one made for me after finding out about my powers and started training me on how to use them while fighting like he does. Said it was better to know and be prepared than be caught off guard and get seriously hurt or die."

"I guess that is true," Hisoka nodded then waited for her to continue.

"When he showed up, I realised he must be the one that I heard about on the officer's radio I had overheard once a little while before that night. BK-201, the Black Reaper. Infamous Contractor that seemed to go after other Contractors but yet didn't seem to harm other normal citizens. And the man holding me must be his target, which was another Contractor. Sure enough, the other one started to activate his power but I caught him off guard by using one of the moves I learned in martial arts. I jabbed my elbow into his ribs and stomped on his foot making him let go and rolled out of the way. Hei threw his carabineer and wire at the man, zapping him dead. And even though I felt bad about the fact that the Contractor died, I was also stunned to see that he used the same powers that Yue spoke of in his letter and how they matched mine. I guess you could call me crazy but I wanted to thank him because had I just been a normal human without powers, he probably would have been the only person that would have saved my life that night."

"Typical Mitsuki. You would thank an assassin like that," Minako chuckled. "So did you get to thank him?"

"Well...not really. He was about to leave but I asked him to wait, which amazingly he did. Just as I got to him, he reached out and slid his other hand up to the back of my head, intending to zap me unconscious, though I wasn't sure if he was going to kill me or not. I felt the buildup of the electricity he was about to unleash, activating my own power without him noticing either, and redirected the zap that would have knocked me unconscious down my spine to temporarily paralyse me. Then I just closed my eyes and pretended to be unconscious."

Both of her friends gaped at her in surprise.

"I thought for sure he'd just leave me there and run away since I could hear sirens in the distance coming closer. But, he picked me up and ran, after Mao had come to ask if he'd zapped me too. I think we stopped in an alleyway where he ended up setting me down and while talking with Mao, I found out both of their names. And he also found out where I lived by looking at my ID. There was a small shuffling of him taking off his gear before he hoisted me on his back and carried me all the way home. Mao complained about it but didn't stop him."

"Wait...he actually took you home?" Mitsuki nodded at Minako's question. "Who would have guessed he'd have done that? I mean...granted knowing how he is now...but back then and not knowing how he was..."

"Believe me. It surprised me too." Mitsuki gave a small smile. "After he laid me in bed, he and Mao left without another word thinking he'd zapped me unconscious and without my memories of that night. I didn't say anything about it figuring that was the best thing I could do. Just go on and live my life like normal. At least, that's how it always seemed at first in the mystery novels I always love reading."

"Oh yeah. I forgot you always loved reading those kinds of stories," Minako laughed. "So you obviously had some background knowledge about how to act."

"Y-yeah." Mitsuki gave an embarrassed laugh as she scratched the back of her head again.

"So after that you ran into him with your ankle getting twisted right?"

"Yeah. Though I didn't know who he was then. I just figured he was some stranger that was nice with helping me out and all. He offered to at least take me back to his apartment to get some ice on it and some aspirin, as it was close by while my place was much further away. He carried me the same way he did that night he took me home." She gave a slightly embarrassed look as she fidgeted with her hands in her lap. "It was while talking to him while he carried me I noticed the same sort of things I noticed while I had my eyes closed that night he took me home and realised he could potentially be the same person from that night. It would make sense having the outfit he did to conceal his identity after all so he could have his alias go unknown to others."

"Did you call him out on it?" Minako gave a wide-eyed look at her.

"No. I figured I'd keep quiet about it. I mean, it could have been a coincidence of someone else. And I'd hate to make that awkward comment for someone just trying to help me out. Plus, it was already embarrassing enough that I ended up staying at his place that night because my phone died and he didn't have one or a charger. Nor would it have been a good idea to have him carry me in the dark all the way home."

"Wait...you...stayed with him that night? In the same bed?" Minako gave a surprised look but even Mitsuki could see the flicker of mischief in her eyes.

"N-no!" Mitsuki blushed bright pink in embarrassment as she held her hands up and shook her head. "H-he borrowed the spare futon from the empty apartment next door to sleep on." She brought her hands back down along with her gaze still blushing. "Though...he did give me one of his shirts to sleep in."

Minako gave a small squeal while Hisoka chuckled at his girlfriend's enthusiastic response and Mitsuki's cheeks flushed in embarrassment.

"I'm sure he was courteous no doubt," Hisoka smiled as Mitsuki looked up at him.

"Y-yeah. He didn't look or anything when I changed..."

"Not even a tiny peek?" Minako asked with a mischievous grin.

"W-well the next morning the top couple of buttons were open but he pointed them out while turning his head away," Mitsuki replied, still flushed. "Other than that, no."

"Hmm. I give him points for behaving," Minako nodded with a smile. "So...did he start hanging out with you after that?"

Mitsuki shook her head. "No. He helped me home though and I gave him my number and offered to make him dinner as a thank you for helping but if he really was this Black Reaper person I'd met that night, I figured I probably wouldn't see him again. The less that knew about his alias the better would no doubt be his thinking. And as I thought, he didn't try to contact me again."

"Okay. So then how did you two...?" The older girl crossed her arms raising an eyebrow.

"Well a couple of weeks after the whole ankle incident, I couldn't sleep and was looking out my slider door and happened to see him outside in his gear. It was raining pretty steadily and from where I was at, I saw him stumble and end up falling to the pavement without moving. Without hesitation, I ran outside into the rain to see what was wrong only to find him unconscious. There were sirens in the distance and he was pretty cold. I thought maybe this was my one chance to repay him for helping me out for both times so I dragged him inside back to my apartment. It was then I noticed he was injured so after bandaging him up and getting him into some dry clothes of Yue's, I put him in bed since the couch was certainly not going to be a good spot to rest with his injuries.

"Noticing he also had a fever starting, I put a cold cloth on his head but I also tried to bring it down by laying beside him. Since it was still late and I was now exhausted from bringing him in and making sure his wounds were bandaged up, I sort of fell asleep next to him."

"And?" Minako raised an eyebrow again.

"And when I woke up the next morning, he was awake and looking at me." She blushed again as she fidgeted with her hands. "I explained what happened with me bringing him in and making sure his wounds were bandaged up. Then I just bluntly told him I remembered him from that night, knew his name, and how I pieced together who he was when he helped me with my ankle. I also added in the details about how Yue was a Contractor, since I had told him about how our parents died and how he went missing on the train after seeing a strange blue light the night I stayed from my ankle. And I offered him a deal that in exchange for not killing me, since I knew his identity, that I'd help him out in any way I could and keep who he was secret from others. If I betrayed him, I wouldn't fight him on the fact he had every right to do what was needed to keep him and his team safe."

"Which would be to kill you no doubt," Hisoka pointed out quietly. Mitsuki gave a nod as she clasped her hands together a little tighter.

"I let him have his choice and he decided to take up the offer, which I was thankful for. I made him some food to eat and left it out for him if he happened to stop by at night while doing his other jobs. I also left my slider door unlocked for him just in case. It started out like that, him stopping by to rest and eat while I slept, then be gone before I woke up the next morning. Then he ended up walking me home one day after work and bought dinner since we were both kind of hungry and we talked. He had some mission to do for a month up at PANDORA so I gave him the moonstone piece Yue gave me for good luck. I told him to return it when he got back. When he did, he was a bit of an emotional mess. He'd been inside the Gate and said he'd seen his sister's image in there while having to fight some other Contractor and I guess it just left him drained emotionally. So I did what I could to relax him by just doing what my mother and grandmother used to do with rubbing the back of my head while laying it on their lap and hummed to me. Though, by time he got ready to leave, I could tell he still seemed emotionally drained and he actually asked to stay the night."

"Oh?" Minako raised her eyebrow again.

"But not like _that._" Mitsuki gave a small blush. "Though I did make up the couch for him to sleep on at first, he ended up coming to my room and asked if he could lay with me. The state he was in just reminded me of Yue's times he had his emotional breakdowns and the way he clung all curled up beside me was very similar. I knew I couldn't leave him alone to deal with that sort of thing since he'd been alone without that emotional support for nearly a decade since his parents died and he and his sister went on the run. Honestly, I'd have lost it having to be alone with no one to help comfort me for so long.

"By morning, he was doing a little better and he started coming around more and more. He admitted later on that me being there for him helped him deal with everything much better than had he been alone. Like _I_ was the one with all the power to protect him while _he_ was plain and normal instead." She gave a small chuckle. "I think that also sort of solidified the fact he was falling in love with me since not too much longer after that, Minako told him I liked him while I was still inside at work and he'd come to walk me home again."

"Well, it obviously pushed things along now didn't it?" Minako spoke up with a satisfied smile. "Would he have admitted his feelings to you had I not told him?"

"Now that I think about it, I don't know," Mitsuki shrugged. "Given he had always thought of being a Contractor and how they're not supposed to have feelings like that, probably not. And given that being with him would have been a very big risk because if the Syndicate had found out, who knew what they would do. After all, spending more time with me and everything, he'd begun to want to leave the Syndicate, even though both of us knew that if he left, that would only be a death sentence for him. The only way out of those types of organisations is death. But despite telling Mao when he found out about us seeing each other, that when the time came when Hei had to leave Tokyo I'd let him go without a hassle, my heart knew I couldn't let him go so easily. I'd fight tooth and nail to keep him there and free him from the Syndicate somehow. It was after one of his missions when he came back home overly emotional again that he made up his mind he was getting out despite knowing the consequences. He started planning out how to make sure his entire team also got out safely since usually when one left, they all paid the price."

"But he didn't get a chance to leave before the whole thing at the Gate."

Mitsuki shook her head at Minako's statement. "No. Huang didn't make it." She pulled her lips into a thin line. "Hei told me the wounds he had were too severe. He even knew he wasn't going to make it but he still helped to get Hei and the others as close to the Gate as possible. I don't know what all happened to him though. And of course Yin is with Hei on the run. I just managed to find Mao recently but he's currently still in his dormant state with the feline brain having taken over from back then in the Gate. Kirihara has some people she knows that are working on getting servers up for him to connect with and get him back to normal again. It might take a little while though. But for now he's just been relaxing quietly at home like some ordinary cat."

"Wait...he's at your place?" Minako's eyes lit up and Mitsuki nodded. "Aww. I'd love to go see him. Though...like you said, he'll just be a normal cat." She paused thinking. "But he's still a good kitty isn't he?"

"For the most part he is," Mitsuki nodded. "After initially finding him, the feline side was very skittish and tried running away from me. Even gave me a few scratches but I managed to coax him gently and show I wasn't going to hurt him. He's warmed up since then but only towards me it seems. Even with Kirihara he hisses and hides."

"You still have to show us that outfit you said Hei got you as well," Minako pointed out with a grin.

"You just really want to see her all dressed up don't you?" Hisoka asked with a chuckle.

"Well, the way she describes it makes it sound so badass!" Minako replied with a grin before looking back to the black and white haired girl. "So can we? Please!?"

"I guess I have no other choice do I?" Minako gave a grin while shaking her head.

* * *

"One minute. Let me see where Mao is," Mitsuki spoke up as she let them into her apartment after they'd finished up their lunch at the park and had followed her back. The other two nodded as they came in and took off their shoes after Mitsuki shut the door behind her. She went down the hall to find Mao curled up on the couch. He opened an eye before yawning as she gave him a scratch on the ears then picked him up gently. "Alright. Go ahead and come down to the living room. But slowly."

Coming down the hallway as she said to, Mao turned to look at them with a bit of a wide-eyed stare as his fur bristled a little. Mitsuki held him while coaxing him with a soft 'shh' and telling him it was okay and that they were friends. He managed to hold still enough when Minako slowly raised her hand to let Mao sniff her before slowly reaching up to pet his head. Hisoka did the same. Mao tolerated it for a moment before he wanted down, which Mitsuki put him on the floor. He ran down the hall to her room to hide in.

"I guess, if you guys want to sit on the couch and wait, I'll go grab my gear to show you."

Nodding, both sat down to wait. When Mitsuki returned a few minutes later, she was dressed in all her gear, including her black coat, but had left the mask off. She held it in her hands though.

"Whoa. That's just like what he wears?" Minako asked as both of them looked at her outfit.

"Even the mask though mine's a mirror to his," she replied as she held it up. "His lightning bolt is on the right side while mine's on the left. He did that on purpose."

"Okay. _Now_ I totally understand why you got those purple lightning bolt charms for the necklace as his present," Minako chuckled. "Because of the design on his mask."

"Y-yeah. I really couldn't resist." Mitsuki gave a slightly embarrassed look.

"You should put the mask on." Mitsuki gave a shrug but did so. "Okay, yeah that is a bit creepy but...I guess in a cool sort of way?"

"Well, to hide his identity, I can see where you'd probably want to make it creepy enough and all," Hisoka chuckled as Mitsuki took it back off again.

"Well with the name Black Reaper, it totally makes sense," Minako pointed out as she thought about it. "I mean, it's like those Western portrayals of the Grim Reaper in a black hooded cloak and scythe. Or if they did show his face, he's got the face of a skeleton, which is white. So I can see the comparison."

"So you two really aren't upset to know all about this?" Mitsuki asked curiously. "I mean...knowing about Hei and my powers and everything?"

"If you think this changes what we think about you and make us hate either of you for it, then we'd be some lame ass friends," Minako replied. "You had your reasons for keeping it from us. We understand. Ain't changing that you're still my little sis."

"Exactly. You're still the same you that you've always been," Hisoka added with a nod. "And well, we've gotten to know Li...Hei...before even knowing about all this. I like him and think he's a good guy, even with his past as it is. I mean, technically he saved Tokyo from being destroyed in getting transformed like South America. Hell...probably all of Japan if it was to be about the same diameter of that impenetrability zone they called it. But he also spared all the Contractors and Dolls from being erased by the Syndicate too. In my opinion, that's something a person with great honour shows. So I'm grateful for him. And for Yue and you as well."

Mitsuki could feel her lip quiver a little and her heart swell with happiness knowing that even after all the explaining and showing them her gear from Hei, they still accepted her. The small sting of tears came to her eyes.

"Aww why are you crying?" Minako asked with a furrow of her brow as a couple of fresh tears fell down the younger girl's cheeks.

"I'm so happy that you're still my friends." She gave a small sniffle but smiled.

"Ah come here. Group hug!" Minako grabbed her and Hisoka and pulled them into her embrace. Mitsuki gave a small laugh, glad to know she could always depend on them.

* * *

Well that's the chapter. Minako and Hisoka finally know. Mitsuki is glad to know that they're still her friends. Certainly it's a big adjustment for them but they'll make it through anything together.  
Anyways, hope to get another chapter up again soon! Stay safe out there!


	8. 8 Horai

Hello everyone! I apologise for not updating this in a few months. I've been very busy with a lot of things going on in my life and really haven't had the time to type on this during that time. I hope everyone has also been continuing to do well during this year's wackiness. I've been doing my best to stay as healthy as possible. Anyway, here's another installment chapter! Enjoy!

_**Black Dragon, Snowy Moon**_

_Installment #8: Horai_

Horai looked up from the inside of the prison cell he was in as a security guard stopped in front of the door.

"You've got a visitor," the guard spoke up, pulling out a pair of handcuffs. This caused the former director to raise an eyebrow but he stood and followed protocol, letting the guard lead him down to an interrogation visitor room.

Sitting down in the chair on one side of the table, Horai watched the guard leave the room after securing his hands to the table with the extra chain on it. Only his reflection remained in the two-sided mirror to his left. Several moments passed before the door opened again and Chief Kirihara walked in. However, she wasn't alone. Behind her was a familiar black and white haired girl with two-toned eyes.

"What's the meaning of this visit?" Horai asked as he narrowed his dark eyes on the younger girl. After all, his former subordinate hadn't been the one doing the previous interrogations on him after being arrested the day the Tokyo Explosion had happened.

"You have information and I need it," Kirihara replied as she stopped on the other side of the table and put her hands casually on the edge of it. She leaned towards him slightly. "And you are going to give me what I need."

"There's nothing I have to say to you," he spoke with a cold tone before shifting his gaze towards Mitsuki who remained standing a few paces back. "I see you're still aligned with filth."

"And I see you're still being as stubborn as ever," Kirihara retorted back. "Don't think I haven't been keeping tabs on what they've been asking you about." She paused as she stood back up straight and crossed her arms over her chest. "Tell me what I want."

"If you think you can get me to talk, you're delusional," Horai spat back.

"I thought you'd say that." Kirihara dropped her arms as she took a few paces back. "Yuuki, you have my permission."

"Permission? For what?" Horai glared at the younger girl as she stepped forward to the table, her gaze left neutrally blank just like Hei had taught her.

"Tell me where Hei is," she spoke up, keeping her voice neutral.

"Like I'd tell you." He continued to glare at her.

Narrowing her eyes slightly, she brought her hand over towards the table's surface as her eyes gave their signature red glow and blue outlined her. A spark of blue electricity crackled off the tips of her fingers and went to the metal table. He gave a small jolt with his hands tugging on the chain holding him to the table as it zapped him.

"What the hell is the meaning of this?!" Horai exclaimed trying to tug on the chains as he stood up; his chair getting knocked over backwards in the process.

"You want to play stubborn, then I'll play along," Kirihara spoke with a determined look.

"I'll make sure you get your badge taken for this."

"Who'd believe you? You're the one who lied and aligned with the Syndicate and tried to eradicate Contractors and Dolls simply for existing."

"They're monsters."

"Only because you and others like in the Syndicate forced them to be. Exploiting their abilities for your own gain and yet disgusted by them at the same time." Kirihara gave him a pointed look. "Now we can sit here all day and keep this up or you can give me the information I want."

"I doubt _she'll_ be able to keep up for long." Horai glared at the two-toned eyes still watching him with the blank neutral look.

"I'm willing to pay whatever is needed to use my power." Her eyes glowed red again as electricity crackled off her fingertips and flicked to the table once more, giving him another shock. "Now tell me where Hei is."

"You're a monster just like him." He gave her another glare.

"You think he's ruthless? You haven't seen anything yet," she spoke up, keeping her voice emotionless. "Especially a woman who's pissed off." As if to make her threat very clear to him, she sent another zap of electricity through the table high enough to drop him to his knees.

"You're insane." Horai grit his teeth as he sat there on his knees.

"Tell us what we want and she'll stop," Kirihara spoke up.

"This is unethical torture."

"Believe me. I'm just getting started," Mitsuki replied as she came around the table so she stood over him as he continued to kneel on the floor on his knees.

Putting her hand over the table, she unleashed another wave of electricity at a constant rate to make him feel the zap going through his entire body. It was kept abuzz with a steady stream of her power. She shifted her look to match Hei's deadly Reaper glare she'd seen before.

Looking up at the glare she was giving, it matched a few pictures he'd seen of Hei making that same look back in South America. The ruthless Black Reaper. It was a look that even unnerved him. And seeing it now on her face with her power constantly flowing through him making him at her mercy, he truly feared for his life. A silent gulp escaped him as those eyes looked down at him with the glowing red of her power's activation.

* * *

"I'm sorry you had to do that," Kirihara spoke up after they'd finished up dealing with Horai and were back outside heading to the blue Porsche. "I knew he was stubborn but damn."

"It's alright. I was glad I could help." She gave a small pause as she opened the door and got inside the car as the police chief did. "At least we got some useful information out of him finally."

"I must say, you were a bit scary with that look on your face after dropping him to his knees." She started the car before pulling out of the parking spot and headed for the road.

"That was kind of the point," Mitsuki replied with a small sigh. "Hei showed me how to make it look like you don't have any emotions and be very intimidating."

"Oh?" The police chief raised an eyebrow at her in interest.

"He set up a few mock interrogation scenarios both where he was the interrogator and being interrogated by me. It helped me to practice how to look like that and keep my composure without letting my emotions slip."

"Well it certainly did the trick." She gave a small sigh. "I just hope he doesn't piece together with you there and his fragmented memories."

"At most he won't remember the last few hours," the black and white haired girl replied with a shrug. "I made sure only to zap him just enough that it'll skew his short term memory."

"I must say, that is kind of a handy trick," Kirihara nodded as she drove down the road heading towards headquarters.

"It took a little practice to get it right." She gave a small smile. "Though I can't really explain it, it also seemed to come as a natural instinct of what to do and how to do it." She put a hand up to the clear glass-like pendant hanging around her neck. "I'm sure Yue had something to do with that being fused with me."

"So like...can you talk to him at all or connect with his consciousness?" It was a question she'd been curious about since learning about the whole fusion thing.

"No. I've never experienced anything like that," Mitsuki replied with a shake of her head. She gave a small furrow of her brow. "Though I guess Hei did once with his sister."

"He did?" Brown eyes turned to look at her with a blink of surprise. "When?"

"When he went to rescue Mao from Amber," she replied. "He said his power engulfed the entire building from how angry he was when he finally had Amber in his grasp. While his power was building up, he heard her voice in his head call _brother_. It was enough to stun him and stop using his power because it had been five years since he'd heard her voice."

"Wait….the entire building was blue?" Kirihara's eyes widened at the memory of seeing him on the floor with his cracked mask revealing his blue eye to him. "That's the night I found his necklace you made him. So _that's_ why he looked all shaken up on the floor."

"Yeah he was a mess when he finally made it back to my apartment," Mitsuki replied with a small sigh recalling how he clung to her as he sobbed in her arms. "It was the third time I've seen him so emotional after a mission."

"What were the other two times if I may ask?"

"After his job at PANDORA and also one dealing with the founder of Friends of the Gate order." Kirihara gave a small furrow of her brow. "He said he saw his sister's image inside the Gate while fighting that other Contractor and it sort of hit him hard because he'd been searching for her for so long." She remembered asking him about it later since that night he'd been so emotional, she didn't ask what had actually bothered him. "That and dealing with the other Contractor, the meteor shard did something to take him to some other realm within the Gate."

"Other realm?" Kirihara blinked as she continued down the street.

"He said he was surrounded by yellowish white clouds and the other Contractor was there with him. Then suddenly the other Contractor turned from adult to a child and pointed up at the sky as the clouds parted to reveal the real stars above. It shocked him so much before he looked down to see the other now as a kid running to some rocket ship that looked like some kid's drawing before it took off up to the stars. The clouds closed behind him before a bright light blinded him. Next thing he knew, he was waking up in a crater still inside the Gate. The other Contractor was gone with only his lab coat left. The meteor shard was also in his hand."

"The other disappeared?" She was stunned by this. "What happened to Hei after that?"

"He did say he was able to get out with help from another Syndicate member that worked there. But when he showed up the next evening at my door, he was a mess. He tried to play it off but I could tell something was bothering him. So I gave him a hug to let him know he could trust me to talk about whatever he needed to. He started crying in my arms instead."

"That….must have been a sight to see given who he is. Or rather what his reputation is."

"It was certainly something I hadn't exactly expected but given how I knew Yue had his emotions as his obeisance and I kept mine after becoming a Contractor, I wondered if it was a possibility that Hei also had human emotions as his payment. After all, at the time, he hadn't told me his obeisance yet. Or lack thereof."

"When did you find out he didn't have one?"

"Well…" The black and white haired girl gave a slight fidget with her hands in her lap. "It was the next morning after I nearly was assaulted by three men on the way home from work."

"What?!" Kirihara looked at her as she stopped at another red light. "They didn't….?"

"N-no. I managed to shock them unconscious but I guess I was so distraught that I just ran until I made it to the park near my apartment. I broke down under the willow tree near the pond. I didn't realise that Yin sent her spectre to watch me on her own. She found out I was a Contractor first after I sensed her and looked up to see her spectre there. I'd been careful not to look at her spectre directly so as to not reveal I was a Contractor to her since I didn't know if she'd tell Hei. I asked her to not tell him as I cried. Her spectre disappeared from the water after that. I just sat there and cried until I heard footsteps some time later."

"It wasn't those men that followed you was it?"

"No. It was Hei. Yin sent her spectre to have him follow it to me. He carried me back home since I really couldn't stand due to the shock. I could tell he was upset at not being able to be there to walk me home since he was working one of his odd jobs. I'm sure if he had known who the men were, he'd have tracked them down and dealt with them himself." She gave a small pause. "But he made sure I was alright just like I'd made sure he was comforted that night he first cried in my arms after the PANDORA mission. I felt so vulnerable and I ended up asking him to stay because I didn't want to be alone."

"So he stayed all night with you?" The police chief was surprised that Mitsuki actually had asked it since even she knew that many victims of assaults like that were iffy on being touched by anyone.

"Yeah. I know it sounds odd but I felt that if he left, I'd fall to pieces." She fidgeted with her hands again. "I had to work the next day but I still felt really upset by everything so he called my boss for me, said I wasn't feeling well, and that he was watching over me. My boss let me have the day off and he stayed with me until he had to go to work later in the afternoon.

"While he stayed with me before leaving for work, we talked a little and that's when I learned he'd become a Contractor after Heaven's Gate disappeared and that he also didn't have an obeisance. Also, he told me he'd earned his Black Reaper name while in South America before Heaven's Gate vanished. He told me he was even more ruthless back then than now; that he suppressed his emotions to be like the other Contractors on his team. It was the only way he could do his job to protect his sister. It wasn't until after he'd gained his powers he started changing and his emotions started opening up more. I realise now it was because he was sad his sister wasn't around anymore. I mean, he gave up everything to protect her and she suddenly disappeared with no clue where she could have gone." She gave a small pause as she squeezed her hands together. "I understood those feelings because I felt the same way when Yue disappeared. I searched for him everywhere but nothing ever showed up. I'm just glad I have my answers now. Just like Hei has his."

Kirihara let this information sink in as she continued on once the light turned green again. "When did he decide he wanted out of the Syndicate?" She realised she hadn't learned about that when she came to talk to Mitsuki after the Tokyo Explosion happened.

"After his mission to the Friends of the Gate order." Kirihara blinked. That was the other time she said he'd gotten emotional. "He told me he saw two Contractors die, but neither by his own hand. They willingly either used their power knowing their payment would be their last or let themselves be killed to save someone they cared for."

"They both killed themselves?" That was unheard of for a Contractor. At least besides what she knew of Yue. But he did it because of Mitsuki and to save her and the ones on the train.

"Yeah. It actually rattled Hei." She pulled her lips into a thin line remembering Hei's words. "Hei admitted he was scared when he saw Huang holding the other Contractor in his arms after she'd been run over. He said it made him picture him in Huang's place holding me because he knew if it came to it, I'd give up my life to make sure he remained safe. It was then he told me he was done with being used by the Syndicate and was starting on making plans to get him and his whole team out."

"But he didn't have enough time."

Mitsuki shook her head. "No. He said he was nearly finished when everything went down as it did. I feel bad that Huang paid the price for it." She clasped her hands together on her lap. "At least we got Mao back though. Somewhat."

"Well, at least with this information now, we should be able to finish getting those servers up and get Mao back completely," Kirihara smiled softly.

"I'm really grateful for you helping me out on this," Mitsuki spoke as she looked to the police chief.

"I should be the one grateful to you," she replied. "After all, you've helped me out on several occasions to take down Contractors. And you saved my life that time when you revealed yourself. Not to mention the couple of other times Hei has done the same, not including stopping the whole Tokyo Explosion ordeal. So I really owe you two a lot of thanks."

"I suppose that is true." Mitsuki gave a chuckle. "We can call it even."

"Sounds good to me. Now let's go get this information to headquarters so we can start those servers."

* * *

Well that's the chapter. Horai definitely gets to know first hand not to piss off Mitsuki. *laughs* But at least they got the information they needed to bring Mao back to normal. *grins*  
Anyway, thanks again for your patience as I get more chapters up. I still have a few more rolling around in my head. I'll be getting those posted as soon as possible! Stay safe out there everyone! *hands out pocky*


End file.
